UWC researchers find depression screen above 80% among disabled students

University of the Western Cape researchers found more than 80% of 229 disabled undergraduates met a depression screening threshold in an ongoing study, Daily Maverick reported in an Oct. 18 news article.

The depression result was the highest reported indicator in the survey, exceeding probable PTSD by at least 6 percentage points, hopelessness by at least 25 points and loneliness by about 11 points, according to Atlas360 calculations. The source article did not provide a general-student baseline, limiting direct comparison beyond the surveyed group.

The study was led by Amy-Jean Viljoen, a PhD candidate in UWC’s psychology department, with Prof Anita Padmanabhanunni, dean of UWC’s Faculty of Community and Health Sciences. The survey covered disabled undergraduates at UWC, Stellenbosch University and the University of Cape Town.

Viljoen said the findings should not be read as clinical diagnoses. Comorbidity means overlapping mental-health conditions in one person. “We’re not trying to clinically diagnose anyone with these results.

But it does indicate that there’s clinical stress… This comorbidity… places a significant risk for disengagement,” she told Daily Maverick.

The survey also found that 74% of participants met the screening threshold for probable post-traumatic stress disorder, 55% reported high levels of hopelessness and about 69% reported loneliness. Those figures were all below the depression-screening result, which Daily Maverick described as more than 80%.

Padmanabhanunni said the work added evidence on an underexamined issue in South African higher education. “Much existing South African research has focused on the barriers these students face in accessing higher education, obtaining academic accommodations, and fully participating in university life. Far less is known about their psychological wellbeing and the extent to which they experience mental health difficulties.”

The research began as part of a wider PhD project on a UWC-based digital mental-health app for undergraduates, including disabled students. Viljoen has pursued the study for two-and-a-half years, including roughly one year spent securing ethical approval from UWC, Stellenbosch University and the University of Cape Town.

Viljoen said students with less visible disabilities, including ADHD and autism spectrum disorders, can be missed by campus systems if they do not register with disability units. “Unfortunately, many students choose not to register with the disability units, and they then remain undetected and unsupported,” she said.

Padmanabhanunni cautioned that the study was not nationally representative. Its findings are limited to the surveyed students at three Western Cape universities and cannot be used as a national rate for disabled students across South African higher education.

She said universities should assess whether disability and mental-health services are accessible, coordinated and responsive to different student experiences. The study remains ongoing, according to Daily Maverick.

Source: news article, Daily Maverick, Oct. 18.