Psychosocial Determinants of Depression, Anxiety, and Stress among Hostel-Residing Medical Students: A Cross-Sectional Study from Western Uttar Pradesh, India
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.47203/IJCH.2026.v38i03.016Keywords:
Medical students, Depression, Anxiety, Stress, Hostel environment, Psychosocial factors, Mental well-being, DASS-21Abstract
Background: Medical students are widely recognized as a high-risk population for psychological distress; however, existing research has predominantly emphasized academic stressors, often overlooking the combined influence of residential and familial psychosocial environments. Moreover, region-specific evidence from North India remains limited.
Objective: This study aimed to evaluate the psychological environment and mental well-being of hostel-residing MBBS students and to examine the relative contribution of hostel- and home-related psychosocial factors to depression, anxiety, and stress.
Methods: An institution-based analytical cross-sectional study was conducted among 140 second-year MBBS students residing in hostels of a tertiary care teaching medical college in Western Uttar Pradesh. Mental well-being was assessed using the validated Depression Anxiety Stress Scale–21 (DASS-21). Psychosocial variables related to hostel and home environments were analyzed using multivariate logistic regression to identify independent associations.
Results: The prevalence of depression, anxiety, and stress was 59.29%, 66.43%, and 35.00%, respectively. Moderate depression and extremely severe anxiety were most frequently observed. Hostel-related interpersonal conflicts and communication avoidance were significantly associated with depression and anxiety, while feelings of uneasiness within the hostel environment were linked to stress.
Conclusion: By integrating hostel and home psychosocial domains within a single analytical framework, this study provides context-specific evidence highlighting non-academic determinants of medical student mental health.
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Copyright (c) 2026 Dr Rijul Ranjan (Corresponding Author); Varsha Chaudhary, Pawan Parashar, Vansh Malohtra, Himan Yadav, Anjali Sharma, Anshul Kumar (Author)
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
