Despite evidence of increasing prevalence of depression in university students, few studies investigated how depression evolves over the first months at university. We investigate severity of depression among first-year university students during their first semester at university, and whether it was associated with impairments in personality, mentalizing (or reflective functioning), and social and academic integration. Participants in this two-wave prospective study were 377 Belgian first-year students in 2018 and 2019. Results showed that maladaptive interpersonal relatedness and self-definition at the start of the first semester (T1) were prospectively associated with increases in the prevalence and severity of depression at the end of the semester (T2). Uncertainty, but not certainty, with regard to mentalizing was positively associated with severity of depression at T2 and mediated the association between personality dimensions and severity of depression. The implications of these findings for depression prevention and intervention strategies in first-year university students are discussed.

中文翻译：

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比利时一年级大学生的抑郁：自我定义、人际关系、心理化和整合的纵向研究

尽管有证据表明大学生抑郁症的患病率越来越高，但很少有研究调查抑郁症在大学的头几个月是如何演变的。我们调查了大学一年级学生在大学第一学期抑郁的严重程度，以及它是否与人格、心智化（或反思功能）以及社会和学术融合方面的障碍有关。这项两波前瞻性研究的参与者是 2018 年和 2019 年的 377 名比利时一年级学生。 结果表明，第一学期 (T1) 开始时的不良人际关系和自我定义与患病率和严重程度的增加有关在学期末（T2）抑郁。不确定性，但不是确定性，心理化与 T2 的抑郁严重程度呈正相关，并介导人格维度与抑郁严重程度之间的关联。讨论了这些发现对大学一年级学生抑郁症预防和干预策略的影响。