AIMS: In the Japanese education system, students who fail university entrance exam often go to special preparatory schools to prepare for the following year's exam. These students are called ronin-sei. The purpose of this study was to clarify: (i) depression and somatic complaints in ronin-sei; and (ii) the association between depression, examination-related stressors, and sense of coherence (SOC). METHODS: A total of 914 ronin-sei from two preparatory schools were asked to answer a self-rating questionnaire. Depression was measured using the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D) and SOC was measured using the SOC-13 Scale. RESULTS: Overall, 57.9% of subjects were considered to have depression (CES-D ≥ 16) and 19.8% had severe depression (CES-D ≥ 26). Higher CES-D scores were associated with a higher rate of somatic complaints. In hierarchical logistic regression analysis, having no one to talk to about his/her worries and having parents who disagree about the first-choice of university and faculty were independent risk factors for depression and severe depression, respectively, even after controlling for SOC. CONCLUSIONS: Preparatory school students have various somatic complaints, and their depression is in part related to examination-related stressors. To maintain mental health, it is important to enhance SOC, to understand their examination-related stressors and to provide adequate support for these students.
AIMS: In the Japanese education system, students who fail university entrance exam often go to special preparatory schools to prepare for the following year's exam. These students are called ronin-sei. The purpose of this study was to clarify: (i) depression and somatic complaints in ronin-sei; and (ii) the association between depression, examination-related stressors, and sense of coherence (SOC). METHODS: A total of 914 ronin-sei from two preparatory schools were asked to answer a self-rating questionnaire. Depression was measured using the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D) and SOC was measured using the SOC-13 Scale. RESULTS: Overall, 57.9% of subjects were considered to have depression (CES-D ≥ 16) and 19.8% had severe depression (CES-D ≥ 26). Higher CES-D scores were associated with a higher rate of somatic complaints. In hierarchical logistic regression analysis, having no one to talk to about his/her worries and having parents who disagree about the first-choice of university and faculty were independent risk factors for depression and severe depression, respectively, even after controlling for SOC. CONCLUSIONS: Preparatory school students have various somatic complaints, and their depression is in part related to examination-related stressors. To maintain mental health, it is important to enhance SOC, to understand their examination-related stressors and to provide adequate support for these students.