Anxiety and depression conditions of ethnic minority freshmen

Objective To learn the anxiety and depression conditions of ethnic minority freshmen and possible effect factors,which would provide the foundation to develop targeted mental health education and intervention programs in the future.Methods All freshmen of class 2014 of a university in Beijing have been selected using the cluster sampling method and were tested by Self-rating Anxiety Scale (SAS) and Self-rating Depression Scale (SDS).Results The anxiety and depression incidence were 9.7% and 15.5% respectively.The incidence of anxiety-depression combo was 5.47%.The average score of SAS was 39.66 ±7.23 and the average score for SDS was 42.86 ±8.84.Both figures were higher than the national norm (P<0.05).Students for the southern area had lower SAS scores (38.59 ±7.33) than those from the center area (39.49 ±7.6),while students from the eastern area had the highest scores (40.18 ±6.91).The difference was statistically significant (P=0.000 1).Inner-Mongolian students had lower SAS scores (38.21 ±6.77) than other ethnic minority groups and the difference of SAS scores was statistically significant among ethnic minority groups (P=0.005).Male students have higher anxiety and depression incidence than female students,while students from southern area had higher anxiety and depression incidence than those from northern area.However,the difference was not statistically significant.Conclusion College entrance as a life event,together with the character of ethnic minority groups,may be the possible factors influencing the anxiety and depression conditions of ethnic minority freshmen.It is necessary to carry out mental health education and positive psychological counseling at the beginning of enrollment to help ethnic minority freshmen pass through the adaptation Period and start college life.