A comparison of traditional and nontraditional college students on the Beck Depression Inventory.

Abstract

Research concerning depression has been conducted for many years. The college population has been a popular target for assessing depressive symptomatology. However, much of the depression research with the college population does not delineate between nontraditional and traditional college students. With a steady increase in the enrollment of nontraditional students, this section of the target population is also important to examine in depression research. The purpose of the present research project was to provide data concerning levels of depression among traditional and nontraditional undergraduate college students. In addition, levels of depression were also examined among men and women students. The revised Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) and the Student-life Stress Inventory (SLSI) were the instruments used in this study. The data were analyzed with a two-way analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) and revealed that men were more depressed than women as assessed by the BDI. The amount of stress that men in our society are placed under can justify these higher depression scores.