Symptoms of depression, anxiety and stress among college students: a cross-national comparison Brazil vs. Finland

• Grant number: 22/14308-6
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Effective date (Start): January 01, 2023
• Effective date (End): December 31, 2023
• Field of knowledge: Health Sciences - Pharmacy
• Principal Investigator: Juliana Alvares Duarte Bonini Campos
• Grantee: Luana Alves Guimarães
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Ciências Farmacêuticas (FCFAR). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Araraquara. Araraquara , SP, Brazil
• Associated scholarship(s): 23/00904-9 - Depression, Anxiety and Stress symptoms of university students: Brazil-Finland transnational study, BE.EP.IC

Abstract

Objective: To estimate symptoms of depression, anxiety and stress in undergraduate students of pharmacy, to identify the consumption dynamic of psychotropic medication among them and to compare the results of affective symptoms (depression, anxiety and stress) between brazilian and finnish students. Methods: In Brazil data will be collect with students from a São Paulo public university. In Finland students of two universities will be invited (University of Eastern Finland e Tampere University). Depression, Anxiety and Stress scale (DASS-21) will be used as measurement instrument. An exploratory protocol was designed to characterize the sample and the students' consumption pattern of psychotropic medication. The validity and reliability of the data to the factorial model of DASS-21 will be assessed. A confirmatory strategy was used with a robust estimation of weighted least squares means and variances adjusted (WLSMV). The fit of the model was assessed using the Comparative Fit Index (CFI), Tucker-Lewis Index (TLI) and Root Mean Square Error of Approximation (RMSEA) with 90% confidence interval. The prevalence of depression, anxiety and stress symptoms will be estimate by 95% confidence interval. After the fit of the model to the data, the transnational invariance will be estimate by multi-group analysis and the difference of the CFI test statistic, since there is a configural invariance of the model between the brazilian and finnish samples. The CFI values of the configural models (M0), thresholds (M1), factor weights (M2) and residuals (M3) will be considered. Invariance will be attested if the CFI reduction (”CFI) is lower than 0.01 (M1-M0; M2-M1; M3-M2). If the data are invariant, a comparison of prevalence between the brazilian and finnish samples will be performed using the z-test (±=5%).