Depression in athlete and non- athlete university students

Depression is a common mood impairment with mild to severe range of severity and has been called as mind common cold. It is important to identify the prevalence of this disorder in young university students because mental health of this group is critical for the future community health. Exercise, while maintaninig physical health and developing body mastery, has known positive effects on mental health. This study was conducted to assess and compare the rate of depression among athlete and non athlete university students.

This was a cross-sectional comparative study to investigate and compare the rate of depression in two 50- person groups of athlete and nonathlete students. Participants were students of Isfahan medical sciences university who were selected through stratified randomized sampling in 2006. Data were collected by a two-section questionnaire including demographic data and Zung’s Standard Scale for Depression. Data were analyzed and presented by descriptive (Mean, standard deviation, frequency distribution) and analytical (T- test, ANOVA, Spearman- Pearson) measures and tests.

Mood status was found normal in 96% of athlete and 66% of non athlete students. The rest 4% of athlete students were just mildly depressed. The mean depression score of athletic students (32.24 +/- 7.94) was less than that of non athletic students (47.2 +/- 9.58) and the difference was statistically significant (t=7.93, p

To improve community mental health, healthy life styles including daily physical activities should be encouraged and supported in university students. Keywords : Depression, Exercise, Student.