80% Screened for Depression Symptoms: What an MNU Study Really Found
New Maldivian research · 445 students
80% screened for depression symptoms. What did the MNU study actually find?
The headline is alarming. The responsible reading is more precise: this was a symptom screening survey—not 445 clinical diagnoses—and it points to pressures a university can act on.
The result
Distress was common in this sample
Source: Hassan, Musthafa, Shuhula, Masood and Shaakir, The Maldives National Journal of Research, Vol. 13 No. 2.
Who was studied?
Not “all Maldivian youth”
The researchers analysed responses from 445 undergraduates at the Maldives National University. It was a cross-sectional survey: a picture taken at one point in time. That makes it useful for detecting patterns in this group, but it cannot establish that the same percentages apply to every student, every university or every young person in Maldives.
It also cannot prove that one factor caused another. An association between problematic internet use and distress, for example, can run in either direction—or reflect other influences not captured by the survey.
Explore the findings
What was associated with what?
Tap a factor to see the statistically significant associations reported in the study. Association does not mean causation.
Academic pressure
Associated with depression, anxiety and stressStudents reporting academic pressure were more likely to fall into the study’s distress categories. The design does not prove pressure caused those symptoms.The bigger lesson
This is not only an individual coping problem
Three prominent associations—academic pressure, dissatisfaction with academic life and problematic internet use—appeared across depression, anxiety and stress. Social support was associated with depression and stress. The authors therefore call for stronger university mental-health services and healthier coping strategies.
If a large share of a student sample is struggling, “be more resilient” is not a complete policy.
The useful questions are institutional as well as personal: Are workloads and deadlines coordinated? Can students reach confidential support early? Do lecturers know how to respond? Is help equally accessible to students outside Malé or studying remotely?
What can change?
Four practical responses
Make support visible
Put confidential counselling routes in course pages, orientation and assessment reminders—not only on a forgotten webpage.
Reduce deadline collisions
Programme-level assessment calendars can expose weeks where several major submissions land together.
Teach digital boundaries
Discuss sleep, attention and problematic internet use without treating all screen time as identical or blaming students.
Measure again
Repeat representative surveys over time and publish methods, response rates and subgroup results so change can be tracked.
If this feels personal
A study cannot tell you what you are experiencing
Consider speaking with a qualified health professional or a trusted person. IGMH’s psychiatry service lists consultation, urgent triage, psychology, psychotherapy and counselling among its services. For an immediate medical emergency in Maldives, IGMH lists 102.
View IGMH psychiatry services