Exploring the Associations Between Social Cognitive Theory and Depression Among College Students

The transition from adolescence to young adulthood during college years brings many stressors simultaneously for students causing many to experience depression. The objective was to analyze depression among college students using social cognitive theory by determining the association between college student’s social environment and depressive symptoms. It is a cross-sectional study based on a questionnaire survey with demographic questions and various other questions to assess depressive symptoms, self-efficacy, relationships with professors, and relationships with peers among the student participants. About 300 Baylor University students with different demographics participated in the survey. The results of the study indicate that there is a significant correlation between depression, self-efficacy, relationships with peers and professors. The results also demonstrate that teens (below 20 years) were more likely to experience depression than adults (20 years and above), and the rate of depression among females was twice that of males. The higher rate in teenagers and females was consistent with many of the previous studies