Depression and hopelessness levels of university students according to their opinions on finding employment or falling out of labor force in Turkey

The aim of this study is to reveal the effects of the thoughts on university students’ depression and hopelessness levels about whether to become employed or unemployed after graduation. The study sampling consists of 980 students from the departments of Selcuk University, such as the Faculties of Health Sciences, Law, Veterinary, Science, Communication, Economics and Administrative Sciences and Engineering. As study participants, 584 (59.6%) men and 396 (40.4%) women were defined using the random cluster sampling method. The data obtained from the survey were evaluated using the SPSS 20.0 software package program. Mean age rate of the students was 22 years ranging from 19 to 39. The Beck Depression Inventory, the Beck Hopelessness Scale and the Demographic Information Form were used to collect data. In order to analyze the data, the logistic regression analysis was used. Our participants were classified into two as those feeling anxious due to difficulties in finding a job and those lacking of anxiety. In light of our study findings, 392 (40.0%) students reported that they would be unemployed or experience difficulties in finding a job, whereas 588 (60%) considered they would be employed easily after graduation. A statistically significant difference was observed in both groups as to the levels of depression and hopelessness (p<0.05). The fact that the students consider experiencing difficulties in finding jobs after graduating leads to a significant effect on their depression and hopelessness levels.