Abstract

The Meaning in life questionnaire, Resilience scale (RS-14), Personality scale (10 items), and the Depression scale were used to assess the influence of meaning in life, resilience, and personality traits on depression among undergraduates in the University of Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria. The sample consisted of 500 students, 351 male and 149 female students were selected across different departments. The study adopted quantitative research design, and accidental sampling technique was used to collect data. Six hypotheses were formulated and tested at .05 level of significance. The result revealed a significant joint influence of the predictors on depression. Further, resilience and emotional stability independently predicted depression among the participants. Moreover, it was revealed that search for meaning in life did not significantly influence depression. The study also revealed that gender significantly influenced depression. The study concluded that meaning in life, resilience and personality traits had influence on depression among undergraduates in the University of Ibadan, Oyo state, Nigeria, and it was recommended that the University management should incorporate resilience skills program to strengthen undergraduates against academic challenges and adversity as means for intervention & prevention against depression.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.