Beyond Emotional Distress: Depression, Anxiety, and Suicide Risk in Future Healthcare Professionals

Abstract

Introduction: Depression, anxiety, and suicide risk are current mental health issues that markedly affect the university population, particularly health science students, whose exposure to multiple risk factors—such as high academic demand, the transition to adulthood, and constant contact with clinical settings—increases their emotional vulnerability. Objective: To analyze the relationship among depressive symptoms, anxiety symptoms, and suicide risk in university students from Loja, Ecuador, exploring the mediating role of anxiety. Method: A quantitative, cross-sectional, and correlational-mediational study was conducted with 400 students selected through non-probability sampling. Instruments included the PHQ-9 (depression), GAD-7 (anxiety), Plutchik's Suicide Risk Scale, and a sociodemographic questionnaire. Descriptive analyses, Spearman correlations, a mediation model, and a general linear model were performed. Results: Between 40% and 47.6% of participants presented moderate-to-severe symptoms of anxiety or depression, and 48.8% exhibited moderate-to-high suicide risk. Anxiety and depression were positively associated with suicide risk. Anxiety did not significantly mediate the relationship between depression and suicide risk, whereas depression demonstrated a robust direct effect. The multivariable model explained 43.3% of the variance in suicide risk, identifying depressive symptomatology as the primary predictor, alongside sex and seeking psychiatric care. Conclusions: Depression emerges as the most relevant clinical factor in predicting suicide risk in this population.