Faculty Sponsor

Julie Brandy

College

Nursing

Discipline(s)

Nursing

Presentation Type

Oral Presentation

Symposium Date

Spring 4-28-2022

Abstract

The incidence of depression in college students is increasing at an alarming rate. Unidentified and untreated depression can lead to significant difficulties adjusting to college life. The goal of this research project is to develop an instrument to identify depression in college freshmen. The development of this instrument is still in the working phase. Qualitative data, collected through interviews with students who experienced depression as college freshmen, provided the basis for the initial draft of items for the instrument. These items reflect the unique experience of depression as experienced by college freshmen. The initial draft of items was reviewed during four focus groups composed of current university students for clarity. These items were revised based upon the valuable feedback received from the focus groups. We are currently recruiting individuals who experienced depression during their freshman year in college to review the instrument draft during one-to-one interviews with the lead investigator. The goal of these interviews is to ensure the items on the instrument are representative of their experience with depression during this time of transition. We plan to continue our work next fall and hope to begin initial screening of freshmen students within the next year.

Biographical Information about Author(s)

We are undergraduate Nursing students working on a research team with nurses and faculty to develop an instrument that can be used to screen for depression in college freshmen. Together we have gained interest in hopefully providing other students insight to the importance in screening for depression.

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