Predicting Depression Symptoms Based on Perfectionism and Anger Rumination in the Students of Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Iran

Aim and Background Depression is one of the most important issues for a student that its occurrence in younger ages is associated with a severe drop in social, occupational, and educational performance. Also, rumination and perfectionism are important factors in the development of depression. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to predict depression symptoms based on perfectionism and anger rumination among the students of Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran. Methods and Materials: This was a descriptive-correlational study. The statistical population of this study was all male students of Shiraz University of Medical Sciences who were studying at this university in 2016. The sample consisted of 204 people who were selected by multi-stage random sampling. Data were collected using Depression Anxiety Stress Scale-21 (DASS-21), Sukhodolsky et al.’s Anger Rumination Scale (ARS), and Ahvaz Perfectionism Scale (APS), and then were analyzed using multiple regression and correlational methods via SPSS software. Findings: A significant positive correlation between depression and anger rumination (P < 0.001, r = 0.419), and depression and perfectionism (P < 0.001, r = 0.321). Also, the results showed that 17.6% of changes in students' depression was explained by anger rumination.

The results of the present study show the importance of the role of anger rumination and perfectionism in symptoms of depression among students. Therefore, learning emotional control skills such as anger management and problem solving skills are recommended to students with anger rumination