Relationship between social health components and incidence of depressive disorder among Iranian students

Depression is one of the most common psychiatric diagnoses which its growing trend has created major problems for mental health. The present study aimed to investigate the relationship between social health components and incidence of depressive disorder among students of Yazd university. Data were collected by using stratified sampling method among 250 undergraduate students (107 males and 143 females). The research instrument included beck depression inventory, perceived social support scale, social cohesion scale, social trust scale and social tie scale. According to the results of this study, there was significant negative correlation between perceived social support and depression, there was significant negative correlation between two social cohesion components namely belief and commitment with depression. There was significant negative correlation between the component of public trust in social trust structure and depression. There was relatively strong positive correlation between social health and incidence of depression in undergraduate students. Therefore the social and behavioral interferences to strengthen public health is essential to prevent the incidence and prevalence of depression.