University students are particularly vulnerable to mood disorders. This vulnerability may be increasing, with recent investigations reporting sharp rises in the prevalence of depression and other psychiatric disorders. Moreover, previous studies indicate that first-year undergraduates tend to show more depression and suicidal ideation than students in subsequent years. However, most studies in the extant literature emerge from high-income countries in the global north; relatively few focus on university students in low- and middle-income countries such as South Africa. Because students in low- and middle-income countries are more likely to be exposed to crime and trauma, and less likely to have easily accessible mental health services, they might be at even higher risk for developing mood disorders than their counterparts in high-income countries. Furthermore, most previous studies of mental health in university students analyse cross-sectional data and therefore cannot comment on longitudinal patterns in the data. To fill these knowledge gaps, the current study aimed to describe recent trends in depression and suicidal ideation among South African university students. We analysed both archival (n = 2593) and original (n = 499) Beck Depression Inventory-Second Edition reports, sampled between 2016 and 2019. As expected, depression and suicidal ideation scores increased significantly over time, and first-year students reported significantly more depression and suicidal ideation than students in subsequent years of study. These findings suggest that preventive interventions during sensitive periods of undergraduate study are imperative and provide a foundation for treatment strategies tailored to the needs of the most vulnerable South African students.

大学生特别容易患情绪障碍。随着最近的调查报告，抑郁症和其他精神疾病的患病率急剧上升，这种脆弱性可能正在增加。此外，以前的研究表明，一年级的大学生比后几年的学生表现出更多的抑郁和自杀念头。但是，现有文献中的大多数研究来自全球北部的高收入国家。在南非等中低收入国家/地区，针对大学生的学生相对较少。由于中低收入国家的学生更容易遭受犯罪和创伤，并且不太可能获得容易获得的心理健康服务，因此与高收入国家的学生相比，他们患上情绪障碍的风险甚至更高国家。此外，大多数以前在大学生中进行的心理健康研究都对横断面数据进行了分析，因此无法评论数据中的纵向模式。为了填补这些知识空白，本研究旨在描述南非大学生抑郁和自杀观念的最新趋势。我们分析了两个档案（（n  = 2593）和原始（n  = 499）Beck抑郁量表第二版报告，于2016年至2019年间抽样。正如预期的那样，抑郁和自杀意念得分随时间而显着增加，一年级学生报告的抑郁和自杀意念明显增多在随后的学习年中比学生。这些发现表明，在本科学习的敏感时期进行预防性干预势在必行，并为针对最脆弱的南非学生的需求量身定制的治疗策略提供了基础。