Background Worldwide population surveys show that
prevalence of mental disorders in developing countries was
as common as in industrialized countries. College life is an
important stage in every person’s life; unfortunately, it may
be the time to experience depression for the first time.
Latterly, there has been a steady increase in the number of
university students diagnosed and treated as depressed
patients. This paper presents the results of a study carried
out on a representative sample of undergraduate students of
an Egyptian University, which aimed to study the relationship
between social factors and the occurrence of
depression. It was assumed that the poorer the socio-economic
background the higher the rates of depression.