{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,6]],"date-time":"2026-05-06T15:46:39Z","timestamp":1778082399950,"version":"3.51.4"},"reference-count":76,"publisher":"Wiley","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2024,1,12]],"date-time":"2024-01-12T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1705017600000},"content-version":"unspecified","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100001871","name":"Funda\u00e7\u00e3o para a Ci\u00eancia e a Tecnologia","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["UIDP\/04923\/2020"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["UIDP\/04923\/2020"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100001871","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Depression and Anxiety"],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2024,1,12]]},"abstract":"<jats:p>Background. The mental health of university students has worsened over time, and it is young people who have suffered the most from the COVID-19 pandemic in terms of mental health. Anxiety and depression are the most common symptoms reported by university students and are often the cause of disabilities, either in academic performance or in other spheres of life. Aim. The aim of this study was to both assess the prevalence of depressive and anxiety symptoms in Portuguese university students and analyze the factors associated with these symptoms. Methods. A quantitative cross-sectional study with a sample of 3,399 university students from seven Portuguese higher education institutions was conducted. The following questionnaires were used: the generalized anxiety disorder assessment scale (GAD-7), the patient health questionnaire (PHQ-9), and a study-created sociodemographic questionnaire. The Kendall correlation coefficient, chi-square test of independence, Spearman correlation coefficient, Shapiro-Wilk test, Mann\u2013Whitney-Wilcoxon test, and Kruskall-Wallis test were used to analyze the association between variables. The statistical analysis was done using the software R Statistics (Version 4.0.4), using a significance level of 0.05. Results. Mild to severe anxiety symptoms were reported by 75% of the participants, and 61.2% described mild to severe depressive symptoms. Of the sample, 19.5% reported a previous diagnosis of a mental disorder, with 38.7% diagnosed after the pandemic began. Additionally, 23% reported taking medication for mental health issues, and 26.7% had considered self-harm or harbored thoughts of being \u201cbetter off dead.\u201d The study found lower anxiety and depressive symptoms (<jats:inline-formula><a:math xmlns:a=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/1998\/Math\/MathML\" id=\"M1\"><a:mi>p<\/a:mi><a:mo>&lt;<\/a:mo><a:mn>0.05<\/a:mn><\/a:math><\/jats:inline-formula>) among men, students with higher socioeconomic status, those who frequently traveled home, individuals without prior mental health diagnoses, those with better academic performance, and those who avoided substances like coffee, tobacco, cannabis, and other illegal psychoactive substances. Interestingly, students in romantic relationships exhibited more anxiety symptoms (<jats:inline-formula><c:math xmlns:c=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/1998\/Math\/MathML\" id=\"M2\"><c:mi>p<\/c:mi><c:mo>&lt;<\/c:mo><c:mn>0.05<\/c:mn><\/c:math><\/jats:inline-formula>). Moreover, participants who believed they had experienced moral or sexual harassment displayed higher levels of anxiety and depressive symptoms (<jats:inline-formula><e:math xmlns:e=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/1998\/Math\/MathML\" id=\"M3\"><e:mi>p<\/e:mi><e:mo>&lt;<\/e:mo><e:mn>0.001<\/e:mn><\/e:math><\/jats:inline-formula>). Conclusions. There was a decrease in the mental health of university students after the pandemic compared to prepandemic studies, and the proportion of students with anxiety and depressive symptoms was alarming. There is an urgent need to implement programs in universities to promote students\u2019 mental health.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1155\/2024\/5528350","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2024,1,12]],"date-time":"2024-01-12T21:20:06Z","timestamp":1705094406000},"page":"1-14","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":28,"title":["Depression and Anxiety of Portuguese University Students: A Cross-Sectional Study about Prevalence and Associated Factors"],"prefix":"10.1155","volume":"2024","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-0342-8892","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Pedro","family":"Amaro","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Comprehensive Health Research Centre (CHRC), Universidade de \u00c9vora, 7002-554 \u00c9vora, Portugal"},{"name":"Institute for Advanced Studies and Research, Universidade de \u00c9vora, 7002-554 \u00c9vora, Portugal"},{"name":"VALORIZA-Research Centre for Endogenous Resource Valorization-Polytechnic Institute of Portalegre, 7300-555 Portalegre, Portugal"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-6975-612X","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"C\u00e9sar","family":"Fonseca","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Comprehensive Health Research Centre (CHRC), Universidade de \u00c9vora, 7002-554 \u00c9vora, Portugal"},{"name":"Nursing Department, Universidade de \u00c9vora, 7000-811 \u00c9vora, Portugal"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-5517-4855","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Anabela","family":"Afonso","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"CIMA, IIFA, Universidade de \u00c9vora, 7002-554 \u00c9vora, Portugal"},{"name":"Mathematics Department, ECT, Universidade de \u00c9vora, 7000-671 \u00c9vora, Portugal"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-3292-2208","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Gon\u00e7alo","family":"Jacinto","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"CIMA, IIFA, Universidade de \u00c9vora, 7002-554 \u00c9vora, Portugal"},{"name":"Mathematics Department, ECT, Universidade de \u00c9vora, 7000-671 \u00c9vora, Portugal"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-4791-3929","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Lu\u00eds","family":"Gomes","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Health, University of the Azores, 9500-321 Ponta Delgada, Portugal"},{"name":"NURSE\u2019IN UIESI-Nurse Research Unit for South and Islands, Polytechnic Institute of Set\u00fabal, 2910-761 Set\u00fabal, Portugal"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-3021-7724","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"H\u00e9lder","family":"Pereira","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Health, University of the Azores, 9500-321 Ponta Delgada, Portugal"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-2626-8561","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Helena","family":"Jos\u00e9","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Escola Superior de Sa\u00fade Atl\u00e2ntica, 2730-036, Barcarena, Portugal"},{"name":"Health Sciences Research Unit: Nursing, 3046-851 Coimbra, Portugal"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-4258-8629","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Celso","family":"Silva","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Comprehensive Health Research Centre (CHRC), Universidade de \u00c9vora, 7002-554 \u00c9vora, Portugal"},{"name":"School of Health, Instituto Polit\u00e9cnico de Beja, 7800-295 Beja, Portugal"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-7535-9040","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Andreia","family":"Lima","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"CINTESIS@RISE, Institute of Research, Innovation and Development, University of Porto, 4200-450 Porto, Portugal"},{"name":"Higher School of Health Fernando Pessoa, 4200-253 Porto, Portugal"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-7455-1081","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Helena","family":"Arco","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Comprehensive Health Research Centre (CHRC), Universidade de \u00c9vora, 7002-554 \u00c9vora, Portugal"},{"name":"VALORIZA-Research Centre for Endogenous Resource Valorization-Polytechnic Institute of Portalegre, 7300-555 Portalegre, Portugal"},{"name":"Department of Health Sciences and Technologies, Polytechnic Institute of Portalegre, 7300-555 Portalegre, Portugal"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-9572-6346","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Jo\u00e3o","family":"Nabais","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Comprehensive Health Research Centre (CHRC), Universidade de \u00c9vora, 7002-554 \u00c9vora, Portugal"},{"name":"Departamento de Ci\u00eancias M\u00e9dicas e da Sa\u00fade, Escola de Sa\u00fade e Desenvolvimento Humano, Universidade de \u00c9vora, 7000-671 \u00c9vora, Portugal"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-7554-8041","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Manuel","family":"Lopes","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Comprehensive Health Research Centre (CHRC), Universidade de \u00c9vora, 7002-554 \u00c9vora, 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