Depression, anxiety, and stress among vocational college students during the initial stage of post-epidemic era: A cross-sectional study

The purpose of this study was to assess the prevalence and sociodemographic determinants of depression, anxiety, and stress among vocational college students. 1255 students participated in the cross-sectional study. The Chinese version of the 21-item the Depression Anxiety Stress Scales (DASS-21) was used. Depression was reported in 37.6% of vocational college students, anxiety in 51.6%, and stress in 38.1%. Logistic regression results showed that a higher degree of depression, anxiety, and stress was associated with female, poor and moderate self-rated health status, from other provinces, poor self-rated family financial status and living off campus ( P < .05). Junior and from one-parent or parentless family were more likely to experience depression and stress ( P < .05). Additionally, the likelihood of having depression was higher in non-only-child students ( P < .01) and rural family location was a risk factor for stress ( P < .001). A higher prevalence of depression, anxiety, and stress was found in vocational college students. Timely and targeted psychological interventions should be taken.