p39: investigating the social factors associated with the mental health of the students in faculty of social sciences of allameh tabatabai university in 2011

mental health plays an important role in ensuring the dynamism and efficiency of every community. since human resources have crucial role in the cultural, social and economical developments of communities, students also are the brilliant segments of society and creators of future of each country therefore, assessing of their mental health is of utmost importance. the aim of the present study is the investigation of social factors like social support, social status and social skills associated with student’s mental health in social sciences faculty of allameh tabatabai university in 2011. this cross-sectional study was conducted among the b.a. students. data were collected using a standardized questionnaire ghq-28 including 4 scale somatic symptoms, anxiety and insomnia, social dysfunction and severe depression and also the new questionnaire containing the variables of social support, social skills, social status and demographic data. statistical analysis was performed using χ2, t-test, anova and correlation coefficient. in this study, 300 students (218 girls and 82 boys) were examined, the average age of the participants was 21.95 (±2.9) years and 10.7% of the respondents were married. according to the current results, 53.3 % (n=160) was suspiciously recognized to have mental disorder based on the ghq-28. results showed that depression was significantly higher in boys than girls. association analysis indicates a positive and significant relationship between social support and social skills with students' mental health. but there was not proven relationship between the social status and students' mental health. there is a diverse range of psychological problems among students and is influenced by cultural, social, economical and family factors as well as new conditions of life (university) and adjustment concerns with new conditions. the current findings imply that more than half of the students in the study were suspected to have mental disorders and mental health services are needed.