ERIC Number: EJ1338014
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2021
Pages: 19
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1855-9719
EISSN: N/A
Available Date: N/A
Personality Traits and Changes in Depression Symptoms in Female University Students
Bobic, Jasminka; Bjelajac, Adrijana Koscec; Bakotic, Marija; Macan, Jelena
Center for Educational Policy Studies Journal, v11 n4 p169-187 2021
The present study aimed to investigate the course of symptoms of depression in female university students over a four-year period, while also exploring the predictive value of four personality traits with regard to symptoms of depression. The sample comprised 74 female first-year university students. Symptoms of depression were assessed using the Zung Self-Rating Depression Scale and were collected twice over a four-year interval, while the personality traits of extraversion, neuroticism, psychoticism and lie tendencies were assessed by the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire only at the baseline. The results revealed that after a four-year period the depression symptoms increased in intensity/frequency on 10 out of 20 items as well as in the summary score, and decreased only in diurnal variations, which was a favourable outcome. Multiple regression analysis indicated that out of the four personality traits only neuroticism was a significant predictor of the summary depression score four years later. This means that young female students with higher scores in neuroticism, although still in the normal or average range, would very probably have a more pronounced and less well-regulated emotional response to a stressful period of their university education.
Descriptors: Symptoms (Individual Disorders), Depression (Psychology), Females, Personality Traits, Predictor Variables, College Freshmen, Emotional Response, Stress Variables, Well Being, Extraversion Introversion, Neurosis, Foreign Countries
University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Education. University of Ljubljana Kardeljeva plošcad 16. Slovenia. Tel: +386-1-5892-344; e-mail: editors@cepsj.si; Web site: https://ojs.cepsj.si/index.php/cepsj/index
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Higher Education; Postsecondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Croatia
Identifiers - Assessments and Surveys: Zung Self Rating Depression Scale; Eysenck Personality Questionnaire
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: N/A