The Link between Generalized Anxiety Disorder, Major Depressive Disorder, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, and Suicidal Risk among Students in Addis Ababa University
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Date
2026-06-01
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Addis Ababa University
Abstract
The objective of this study was to examine the relationships among post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), major depressive disorder (MDD), generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), general health, social support, trauma exposure, sociodemographic factors, and suicidal risk among undergraduate students at Addis Ababa University. A cross-sectional study and correlational design were conducted among 215 undergraduate students from Addis Ababa University. Data collection tools are Suicidal Behaviors Questionnaire–Revised (SBQ-R), Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI), PTSD Checklist for DSM-5 (PDS-5), and Sociodemographic questions, which included a general health measure. Descriptive statistics, correlation analyses, group comparisons, and regression analyses were employed to examine the relationships among the study variables. The findings revealed significant positive correlations between suicidal risk and MDD (r = .635, p < .01), GAD (r = .535, p < .01), and PTSD (r = .592, p < .01), indicating that greater psychological distress was associated with higher suicidal risk. Furthermore, MDD was the strongest predictor (β = .635), followed by PTSD (β = .592) and GAD (β = .535), indicating that higher levels of psychological distress are associated with increased suicide risk. Participants who reported exposure to sexual or physical assault demonstrated significantly higher levels of suicidal risk, MDD, GAD and PTSD symptoms than those exposed to other trauma types or no trauma. General health was found to be a significant predictor of suicidal risk (β = .494, p < .001), while father's educational status (β = .232, p = .024) and social support (β = .147, p = .035) also contributed significantly to the prediction of suicidal risk. Furthermore, social support was associated with MDD (β = -.266, p < .001) and GAD (β = -.218, p = .003), although it was not significantly related to PTSD symptoms (p = .395).
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Suicidal risk, Post-traumatic Stress Disorder, Major Depressive Disorder, Generalized Anxiety Disorder, general health, social support.