Alva Supit, Fendy Imanuel Kolupe, Prycilia Mamuaja, Daniel Kaparang, Fredrik Makadada
Background: Mental health problems among college students are a growing concern, especially during their transition into higher education. Religiosity has been proposed as a potential protective factor. This study explores the relationship between religiosity and depression in a sample of first-year, university students in Minahasa, Indonesia. Objectives: To investigate whether higher levels of religiosity are associated with lower levels of depression among college students. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted with 367 first-year students at Manado State University. Depression was measured using the DASS-42 scale, while religiosity was assessed using the Duke University Religion Index (DUREL), encompassing organizational, non-organizational, and intrinsic religiosity. Data were analysed using correlation analysis. Results: A significant negative correlation was observed between intrinsic religiosity and levels of depression and stress, with some variations between genders. No significant correlation was found between organizational and non-organizational religious activity and mental health symptoms. Conclusion: Intrinsic religiosity, but not religious activities, was correlated with lower depression among first-year college students, suggesting a potential buffering role. This highlights the potential of incorporating faith-based or spiritual elements into student mental health programs in culturally relevant contexts. © Authors. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are properly cited. To view a copy of the license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Department of Public Health, Manado State University, Indonesia; Department of Psychology, Manado State University, Indonesia; Department of Public Health, Manado State University, Indonesia; Department of Information Technology, Manado State University, Indonesia; Department of Sport Education, Manado State University, Indonesia