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Perspect Psychiatr Care. 2020;56:431–438. wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/ppc © 2019 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. | 431

Received: 10 May 2019 | Revised: 17 October 2019 | Accepted: 30 October 2019 DOI: 10.1111/ppc.12452

O R I G I N A L A R T I C L E

The relationship between depression and loneliness levels of the students at the faculty of health sciences and the factors affecting them

Gülsen Kılınç Msc1 | Rukuye Aylaz PhD2 | Gülsen Güneş PhD3 | Pınar Harmancı Msc4

1Department of Psychiatric Nursing, Faculty

of Nursing, Inonu University, Malatya, Turkey

2Department of Public Health Nursing, Faculty

of Nursing, Inonu University, Malatya, Turkey

3Department of Public Health, Faculty of

Medicine, Ankara University, Ankara, Turkey

4Çankırı Karatekin University Eldivan Health

Services Vocational School, Çankırı, Turkey

Correspondence

Gülsen Kılınç Msc, Department of Psychiatric

Nursing, Faculty of Nursing, Inonu University,

Malatya, Turkey/44280.

Email: [email protected]

Abstract

Purpose: The aim of this study is to determine the relationship between the

loneliness and depression levels of students studying at Inonu University, Faculty of

Health Sciences, Departments of Nursing, Midwifery, Physiotherapy, Audiology and

Child Development and the factors that affect these levels.

Design and Methods: This descriptive cross‐sectional study which used a socio‐ demographic information form, the UCLA Loneliness Scale and the Beck Depression

Inventory included 1004 students.

Findings: According to the results of the research, there was a positive relationship

between loneliness and depression levels among university students. Class year,

family type, place of residence, mother’s education level, and economic situation were

important indicators of loneliness and depression.

Practice Implications: Psychiatric nurses can help students express their psycholo-

gical difficulties and help them change their behaviors and lifestyles.

K E Y W O R D S

depression, health, loneliness, students

1 | INTRODUCTION

Today, “the youth period” whose age range goes to the older ages and

definition changes according to the conditions of the time is an important

phase of human development. Youth is also a period that brings a lot of

risk in terms of mental health.1 To draw attention to these risks and raise

awareness, the theme of the World Mental Health Day on 10 October

2018 was determined as “Youth and Mental Health in a Changing World”

by the World Health Organization.

University students face many stressors when they start university,

such as a new environment, sharing a common environment with a large

number of stranger students, budget management and responsibility for

using time more effectively than ever before. The students of Schools of

Health Sciences additionally face problems with the intensive theoretical

and practical training process, frequent evaluation exams, clinical

environment pressure, hospital routines, patient care, healthcare

decision‐making, and witnessing death.2,3 In addition to these stressors,

they feel responsible also for acquiring new social relationships, avoiding

the sense of loneliness, and the desire to meet expected academic

achievement. Students who are not able to develop social skills before

university life develop asocial relations at the university, spend less

time on social activities and experience introspection.4-7 All these new

lifestyle behaviors threaten the psychological well‐being of students and increase psychopathology among them.8 A student who is not able to use

effective coping techniques against stressors in a foreign environment

increasingly faces negative emotions, situations, and loneliness risks.9

While loneliness may be experienced in all age groups, it is more common

among university students.10

Loneliness is said to be associated with negative mood and

destructive behavioral characteristics.11 Studies show that loneliness

is connected to many negative issues such as hopelessness,

depression, negative attitude, and ineffective social skills.12-16 Lone-

liness may lead to serious health problems both physically and

psychologically.17 For example, it is considered an important risk

factor for the development of depression.8,10 In other studies on

loneliness and social support in patients with heart failure, it has

been reported that loneliness is an important factor for patients with

heart failure, and patients who feel lonely have more severe heart

failure.18,19 In addition to this, it was found that lonely students used

more alcohol and drugs than other students.20

A study examining the relationship between mental health and

loneliness reported a positive relationship between loneliness and

depression, which is a strong predictor of general health status.21 In

another study assessing suicide attitudes and behaviors, two‐thirds of students said they developed suicidal attitudes and behaviors because

they were lonely and angry with the whole world. In the same study, it

was stated that suicidal thinking is caused by depressive symptoms,

and this is associated with loneliness.22 The results of a study

examining the risk of psychosocial suicide showed that depression and

loneliness, regardless of age and sex, were key determinants of both

suicide risk indices studied in the study. Evidence has been cited for a

significant depression‐loneliness interaction effect in predicting suicide risk. In other words, the highest risk of suicide was found among the

socially isolated participants.23

After graduation, the social interactions of the students studying

at faculties of health sciences should include the psychosocial skills

by which they can be compatible with the patients, patients’ relatives,

and their teammates. It is important for students studying at these

schools to deal effectively with the stressors they face to gain the

desired psychosocial skills24,25 In this context, knowing how common

depression and loneliness are among students studying at faculties of

health sciences and figuring out the relationship between depression

and loneliness in students are important for students to both

understand the philosophy of education given during the school

period and effectively use the psychosocial skills rules given

theoretically and effectively in their practices.

Previous studies have revealed that depression and loneliness

may cause various mental health problems and even irreversible

consequences such as suicide. In this study, not only the relationship

between depression and loneliness but also the factors affecting

them were investigated. To the best of our knowledge, no studies

have been conducted in Turkey to assess the relationship between

the loneliness and depression levels and the factors affecting these in

students studying Health Sciences. The aim of this study was to

determine the relationship between the loneliness and depression

levels of students studying at Inonu University, Faculty of Health

Sciences, and the factors that affect these levels.

2 | MATERIALS AND METHODS

The cross‐sectional study was carried out at the Faculty of Health Sciences of a state university in Turkey. The population of the study

consisted of 1816 students studying at the Faculty of Health Sciences.

The sample size was determined to be 1004 students with a power

analysis performed based on 0.05 level of significance, in a 0.95

confidence interval, 0.09 effect size, and 0.95 ability to represent the

population. In sample selection, the number of students that would be

taken from the classes consisting of the universe of the study was

determined by the stratified sampling method, the determined students

were ranked by class lists, and 1004 students formed the research group

by using a simple random numbers table. In the research, as data

collection tools, the information form prepared by the researcher, the

UCLA Loneliness Scale whose validity and reliability studies were

performed by Demir and the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) whose

validity and reliability studies were performed by Hisli were used.

2.1 | Data collection

The data were collected between April and June 2018 by the

researcher during face‐to‐face interviews using the questionnaire prepared by the researchers for determining the descriptive

characteristics of the students, the BDI, and the ULS. It took 15 to

20 minutes on average to fill out the forms. The questionnaire

consisted of 11 questions for identifying the descriptive character-

istics of the students (age, sex, marital status, family type, sibling

situation, economic situation, mother's education, father's education,

department, class year, and place of residence).

2.2 | Data collection tools

2.2.1 | Information form

The information form consisted of 14 questions about the departments

of the students, their class years, type of program they studied, their age,

sex, marital status, number of siblings, place of residence, family type,

mother's and father's education, economic situation, the place where they

lived for the longest period and their working status outside the school.

2.2.2 | UCLA loneliness scale

The UCLA loneliness scale is a Likert‐type self‐assessment scale used to determine an individual's general degree of loneliness. The form

reviewed in the original scale has a total of 20 items ranging between

“Totally Agree” (1) and “Totally Disagree” (4) of which 10 items that do

not semantically include loneliness are positive and 10 items that are

semantically oriented towards identifying lonely individuals are

negative. The highest possible score is 80, and the lowest possible

score is 20 in the scale. High scores indicate that individuals

experience more loneliness. Analysis about the internal consistency

of the scale was calculated on a total of 72 people, and the Cronbach's

alpha internal consistency coefficient was calculated as 0.96. The test‐ retest reliability coefficient of the scale performed with a five‐week break was found to be 0.94. The UCLA Loneliness Scale is used in

many studies about loneliness in the world and in Turkey. In this study,

the Cronbach's alpha value was determined as 0.78.

2.2.3 | Beck depression inventory

This scale, which was developed by Beck et al to measure the physical,

emotional, cognitive and motivational symptoms of depression, was

432 | KILINÇ ET AL.

adapted into Turkish by Hisli.24 BDI is a self‐evaluation scale consisting of 21 questions. The score of each question varies between 0 and 3, and the

total score varies between 0 and 63. While low scores on the scale

indicate a low level of depressive symptoms, high scores indicate a high

level. For BDI, the scores are classified as; 1 to 10: normal, 11 to 16: slight

mental distress, 17 to 20: borderline clinical depression, 21 to 30:

moderate depression, 31 to 40: severe depression, 40 or more: too

severe depression and clinical help is recommended for those whose

score is above 17. In this study, the Cronbach's alpha value was

determined as 0.91.

2.3 | Ethics

Before the data were collected, written permissions were obtained from

the Dean of the Faculty of Health Sciences at Inonu University and from

the Scientific Research and Publication Ethics Committee. The students

were informed about the purpose and method of the study, their verbal

consents were obtained, and their privacy was protected.

2.4 | Statistical analysis

Assessments were made using frequency distributions in analyzing

data, correlation, and stepwise model of linear regression. First, the

demographic characteristics of the students were quantified using

distributions. After this, a correlation analysis was carried out for

evaluating the relationship between the BDI scores and ULS scores

of the students. In the last part, two different regression analyses

were performed. In the first analysis, as a dependent variable,

loneliness was assessed by different predictor variables such as class

year, family type, and place of residence. In the second analysis,

depression scores were evaluated by some independent variables

such as family type, mother's education, place of residence, and

economic situation.

3 | FINDINGS

The distribution of the sociodemographic characteristics of the 1004

students is shown in Table 1. The students ranged in age from 18 to

22+ years with a mean age of 21.14 ± 1.81 years, 68.4% were female,

95.7% were single, 71.5% had nuclear families, 29.2% had younger

sister(s) and/or brother(s), 57.07% reported their economic situation

to be medium‐level, 29.7% had mothers with primary school education and 31.37% had fathers with high school education.

Distribution of the characteristics of the students' educational

statuses is shown in Table 2. 52.8% of the students were from the

nursing department, 85.9% were second‐year students, and 41.6% were residents at dorms.

In the study, 14.6% of the students were found to have severe

depression (scores of 40 or higher), and 58.3% were found to have

high‐loneliness scores (scores of 49) (Table 3). The mean score of the students in ULS (lowest 20 and highest 80 points) was found to be

49.23 ± 7.9, and in BDI, the mean score (lowest 0 and highest 63

points) was found to be 16.80 ± 11.7. A positive correlation was

observed between the scales (Table 3).

To examine the effects of the independent variables on loneliness, the

following were included in the regression analysis as independent

variables: age, sex, marital status, family type, sibling situation, economic

situation, mother's education, father's education, department, class year,

place of residence, and depression level. Level of loneliness was taken as

the dependent variable. The results of the analysis that was carried out

using the linear regression stepwise method are presented in Table 4. As

seen in Table 4, from the characteristics taken as the independent

variables, class year, family type, and place of residence were the factors

influential on loneliness. According to the linear regression analysis, the

class year effect size of 8%, family type effect size of 7%, and place of

residence effect size of 21% were effective on loneliness. We made

dummy coding of categorical variables (class year, family type, residence,

mother's education, place of origin, economic situation). So, we coded

TABLE 1 Sociodemographic characteristics of the students

Factor (n = 1004) n %

Age

18 to 19 144 14.3

20 to 21 499 49.7

22+ 361 36.0

Sex

Female 687 68.4

Male 317 31.6

Marital status

Married 43 4.3

Single 961 95.7

Family type

Nuclear family 718 71.5

Extended family 241 24.0

Shattered family 45 4.5

Sibling situation

Single child 33 3.3

Older sister or brother 139 23.9

Older sister and brother 197 19.7

Younger sister or brother 143 24.3

Younger sister and brother 292 29.2

Economical situation

Good 378 37.64

Middle 573 57.07

Bad 53 5.27

Mother education

Literate 282 28.1

Primary school 298 29.7

Secondary school 182 18.1

High school 203 20.2

University 39 3.9

Father education

Literate 106 10.58

Primary school 274 27.29

Secondary school 177 17.62

High school 315 31.37

University 132 13.14

KILINÇ ET AL. | 433

categorical variables as 1 for each and as 0 for others. We included them

in the multiple independent regression model. We put the significantly

effective ones in the model. When the factors affecting loneliness were

examined in the regression model; when class year 1 was coded as 1, and

the others were coded as 0, class year 4 was significantly different. The

impact of the class year on loneliness was 8%. When extended family was

coded 1 and the others were coded as 0, living in a nuclear family was

significantly different. The effect of family type on loneliness was 7%.

When the students' stay in the dormitory was coded as 1, and the others

were coded as 0, living with relatives was significantly different. The

effect of the place of stay on loneliness was 21%. In this case, the place

where the student stayed was the factor that affected their loneliness the

most. Students who stayed with their relatives experienced the most

loneliness.

To assess the effect of the independent variables on depression,

age, sex, marital status, family type, sibling situation, economic

situation, mother's education, father's education, department, class

year, place of residence, and level of loneliness were included in the

regression analysis as the independent variables. The dependent

variable was depression level this time. The results of the analysis

that was carried out using the linear regression stepwise method are

shown in Table 5. As it may be seen in Table 5, from the

characteristics taken as the independent variables, family type,

mother's education, mother's place of residence, and economic

situation were the factors which had effects on depression.

According to the linear regression analysis, the family type effect

size of 18%, mother's education effect size of 22%, mother's country

effect size of 14%, income level effect size of 38% were influential on

depression levels. Dummy coding was performed for further analysis.

When the factors affecting depression were examined in the

regression model, the fragmented family was significantly different,

when the nuclear family was encoded as 1, and the others were

coded as 0. The effect of family type on depression was 18%. When

maternal education was coded as 1 for illiterate, and the others were

coded as 0, those with high school education levels were significantly

different. The effect of maternal education on depression was 22%.

When the mother's place of residence (home place of the family) as

the province was encoded as 1, and the others were coded as 0, the

inhabitants of towns were significantly different. The effect of the

mother's place of residence was 14%. In terms of the economic

situation, when very good was coded as 1, and the other was coded

as 0, the poor economic situation was significantly different. The

effect of the economic situation on depression was 38%. Family type,

maternal education, home economic situation, and the mother's place

of residence were factors affecting depression. The worst economic

situation was found to be a cause of depression.

4 | DISCUSSION

In this study that examined the factors affecting the levels of

loneliness and depression of students at a faculty of health sciences

and the relationship between these, it was determined that nearly

half of the students were at the ages of 20 to 21, more than half of

them were nursing students, and the majority of them were women.

High levels of loneliness were found in 58.3% of the participants, and

the mean loneliness score was found to be 49.23 ± 7.9. When similar

studies carried out in Turkey were examined, while in the study by Türk

et al,26 the mean loneliness score was found to be 37.67 ± 10.37, in the

study by Koçak et al,8 it was found to be 36.92 ± 9.46. When similar

studies in the world were examined, the mean loneliness score was found

to be 39.48 ± 9.03 in the study conducted by Zhang et al27 and

41.81 ± 9.09 in the study by Tian et al.28 The mean loneliness score in our

study was found to be higher than mean scores reported for both Turkey

and the world. Our study was conducted in the East of Turkey. The

students living in the eastern region of the country come from the

traditional and conservative family structure where social acceptance is

TABLE 2 Distribution of students' educational status

Factor (n = 1004) n %

Department

Nursing 531 52.80

Midwifery 100 9.96

Physiotherapy 139 13.84

Audiology 182 18.12

Child development 52 5.17

Grade

1st Grade 83 8.3

2nd Grade 360 85.9

3rd Grade 279 27.8

4th Grade 282 28.1

Place of residence

Dorm 418 41.6

Guesthouse/hotel 17 1.7

At home with friends 127 12.6

At home with the family 365 36.4

At home with relatives 56 5.6

Alone at home 21 2.1

TABLE 3 Comparison of depression score and loneliness score of students

Scales n % Mean (SD) Correlation

Depression scores

1‐10 normal 339 33.8 16.80 (11.7) P = .038 r = .66

11‐16 slight mental distress 241 24.0

17‐20 borderline clinical depression

110 11.0

21‐30 moderate depression 167 16.6

31‐40 severe depression 146 14.6

ULS score

20‐34 between light loneliness

48 4.8 49.23 (7.9)

35‐48 medium to loneliness 369 36.8

49 and above

high‐loneliness 585 58.3

434 | KILINÇ ET AL.

lower, and this leads to weaker interpersonal relations. It may be thought

that this socio‐cultural structure increased the loneliness scores of the participants in our research.

31.2% of the students who participated in the study were found to

have moderate and severe depression, and the mean BDI score was

16.80 ± 11.7. When similar studies conducted in Turkey were

examined, it was seen that in Günay et al's29 study found the mean

score of 12.1 ± 9.1. In Ölçücü et al's30 study, while the mean BDI score

of male students was found to be 12.47 ± 8.41, that of female students

was found to be 12.90 ± 7.43. When similar studies in the world were

examined, according to a meta‐analysis study published by Puthran

et al31 (n: 77), the depression mean scores obtained from regions were

determined as the Middle East: 26.3 to 37.9; North America: 23.6 to

38.0; Asia: 21.3 to 40.6; South America: 21.6 to 32.7, and Europe: 13.2

to 29.2. According to this meta‐analysis, only 12.9% of students agreed to receive medical treatment. When we examined the results of the

study, considering that the participants came from the East of Turkey,

in comparison to the world's other regions, the Middle East is where

underdeveloped countries are located, and the depression scores

increase here. In parallel with the low level of development of

countries, students’ academic anxiety, the idea that psychiatric

intervention might harm their careers, the stigmatization attitude

TABLE 4 According to linear regression analysis predictors of lonelinessa

Model

Unstandardized coefficients Standardized coefficients

Sig F Sig R2 effect sizeB SE Beta t

1. Constant class 47 434 .873 54 (3) 08 .000 2610 0.050b 0.008

Class 2 1483 .969 .089 1530 .126

Class 3 1926 .995 .108 1935 .053

Class 4 2616 .994 .148 2633 .009

2. Constant family type 49 661 .297 167 149 .000 3.640 0.027c 0.007

Extended family −3394 .861 −.130 −3940 .320

Shattered family −1217 1223 −.032 −.995 .000

3. Constant residence 49 410 .467 105 903 .000 3.488 0.002d 0.021

At home with friends .063 .843 .003 .074 .941

At home with family .327 .624 .020 .524 .600

At home with relatives 2340 .839 −.098 −2790 .005

aDependent variable: loneliness. bPredictors: (constant), class 1:1 others: 0. cPredictors: (constant), family type: extended family:1 others: 0. dPredictors: (constant), place of residence: dorm:1 others: 0.

TABLE 5 According to linear regression analysis predictors of depressiona

Model

Unstandardized coefficients

Standardized coefficients

Sig F Sig R2 effect sizeB SE Beta t

1. Constant family type 15 (5) 65 .432 36 027 .001 19 (5) 87 .001b 0.018

Shattered family 9435 1778 .166 5307 .001

Extended family 1215 1224 −.031 −.995 .220

2. Constant mother education 16 388 .886 18 488 .000 8.814 0.001c 0.022

Literate −1550 1410 −.041 −1099 .272

Secondary −2184 1111 −.085 −1966 .050

High school 3474 1202 .119 2891 .004

3. Constant mather country 15 715 .484 32 492 .000 7261 .001d 0.014

Town 3133 .822 .123 3811 .000

Rural 1126 1231 .030 .915 .360

4. Constant economic situation

Good 2458 1853 .098 1327 .185 8814 .001e 0.038

Moderate 2927 1805 .123 1621 .105

Bad 2474 1702 .169 4891 .004

aDependent variable: depression score. bPredictors: (constant), family type; nuclear family:1 others: 0. cPredictors: (constant), mother education; illiretae: 1 others: 0. dPredictors: (constant), mother country; province: 1 others: 0. ePredictors: (constant), economic situation very good: 1 others: 0.

KILINÇ ET AL. | 435

against illnesses commonly seen in underdeveloped countries and lack

of insight may be the factors affecting people.

When students' mean depression and loneliness scores were

compared, moderate depression was found in 16.6%, and high levels

of loneliness were found in 58.3%, while the mean loneliness scores

were found to be increased as the students' mean depression scores

increased (P: .038, r: 0.66; Table 3). As a result of their study on

university students, Diehl et al32 found that social loneliness

increased the levels of depression and anxiety. Curran et al33

reported that social loneliness and having fewer close ties are

significant characteristics of the lives of those who have comorbid

anxiety and depression/subthreshold depression. In Beutel et al's34

study, it was found that loneliness plays a role in health problems

such as depression, anxiety, and suicidal ideation. This may explain

the loneliness‐related depression symptoms of university students. When the factors affecting the loneliness scores of the students

were examined, class year, family type and the mother's residence of

the students were taken into consideration (P < .05; Table 4).

According to the study, studying in the 1st year, coming from a

fragmented family and staying with relatives were the factors

contributing to the increase in mean loneliness scores. It was found

that, although the relevance of peer relationships gradually increases

during adolescence, the significant relationship with parents does not

diminish.35 In the study by Diehl et al,32 while, similarly, the

relationship among having shared living spaces with others while

studying, family type (committed relationship) and loneliness was

found to be significant, differently from our study, the mean

loneliness scores of the first year and the last year students of the

school were found to be close to each other. In the study by Hojat

et al,36 it was found that students who think that their parents do not

spare enough time for them and do not understand them and

students who do not ask their parents for help are more likely to

experience loneliness. The fact that students coming from a nuclear

family and living with others while studying have strong nuclear

family ties that is characteristic of a modern family may make us

think that this situation may cause the experience of emotional

emptiness and loneliness by students after leaving their families.

In this study, when the factors affecting the students' depression

scores were examined, family type (F: 36.789), mother's education level

(F: 25.690), living in a district (F:19.631), and economic situation

(F:16.465) showed significant differences in the depression scores

(P < .05; Table 5). According to the results of the study, having a

fragmented family type, high education level of the mother, living in a

district and weak economic situation were factors that increased

depression. It was shown that university students with low socio-

economic backgrounds from rural areas have higher levels of depres-

sion.37 Wang et al38 found that, in rural regions of China, low

socioeconomic status, being bullied, loneliness, feeling stressed at home

and feeling stressed at school were risk factors for depression. A good

relationship with one's mother, availability of adult social support and

good life satisfaction was found to be protective factors.

Several studies showed that students from divorced families are

more susceptible to depressive symptoms.2,39 Fond et al2 reported a

study of 10 985 medical students that these students were dealing

more frequently with professional adversity (stress before exams,

responsibilities, stress at work at hospital, burnout syndrome) and

personal stress events during their medical studies (parents’ divorce,

sexual assault and domestic violence), consumed more antidepres-

sants and anxiolytics and reported lower quality of life scores. In the

literature, it was stated that the parent‐child relationship was significantly associated with depressive symptoms,40,41 and emo-

tional closeness with the mother and father was reported as the most

important determinant of psychosocial adjustment and protector

against depressive symptoms.42 The possibility that a mother with a

high education level has a poor relationship with her child may be

thought to lead to depression in university students.

According to the results of the study, coming from a fragmented

family affected both depression and loneliness. While living in the

less developed region of the country is one of the most important

factors for the development of depression as supported by the

literature information reported above, having divorced parents is

considered to have caused loneliness and thereby depression in this

region. In underdeveloped societies, the facts that social acceptance

is low, stigmatization against mental illnesses is high, and there is a

lack of empathy that may be considered to lead to loneliness and

depression in students coming from fragmented families.

5 | LIMITATIONS

As Turkey is a migration‐receiving country, there are a lot of foreign students at the faculty health sciences. As the validity and reliability

of the scales used in the study were tested according to Turkish

culture, foreign students could not be included in the study. This

situation is one of the important limitations of the study.

6 | CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS

According to the results of the research, as the loneliness levels of

university students increased, their level of depression also in-

creased. Class year, family type, place of residence, mother's

education level, and economic situation were important indicators

of loneliness and depression. Increasing social projects, sports

activities, and cultural activities for university students may be

effective against loneliness and depression.

7 | IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING PRACTICE

Loneliness and depression are serious mental health problems among

Health Sciences student groups. As the loneliness levels of university

students increased, their levels of depression also increased.

However, until now, research has rarely been conducted to identify

436 | KILINÇ ET AL.

the relationship between loneliness and depression. Universities are

key settings for both education and health. Therefore, they must

create an environment where students can exhibit a healthy mental

status. Therefore, university mental health services should educate

them about the signs and symptoms of mental problems and effective

coping methods and operate campus intervention programs. Psy-

chiatric nurses may help students express their psychological

difficulties and help them change their behaviors and lifestyles.

Additionally, this study may help psychiatric nurses present evidence

in developing psychotherapeutic intervention models and practical

interventions.

ACKNOWLEDGMENT

The authors are grateful to all the participants. This study was presented

as an oral presentation in the 2nd International, 20th National Public

Health Congress. Antalya, Turkey (14–17 November 2018).

ORCID

Gülsen Kılınç http://orcid.org/0000-0002-6347-0486

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How to cite this article: Kılınç G, Aylaz R, Güneş G, Harmancı P.

The relationship between depression and loneliness levels of the

students at the faculty of health sciences and the factors

affecting them. Perspect Psychiatr Care. 2020;56:431–438.

https://doi.org/10.1111/ppc.12452

438 | KILINÇ ET AL.

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