Abstract
During university education, students experience a new environment and need to adapt to new ways of relating to their families and peers. This period involves changes in early adulthood, which can affect mental health. Due to COVID-19, students' activities had to adopt virtual formats. In this context, the present study explored the association of depression and school connectedness in university students from a public university in Guatemala. A total of 494 students from different careers participated. Participants completed an adapted version of the subscale of the "What it is Happening in the School (WHITS)" instrument. For depression, we used the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ9) and a demographic questionnaire. Analyses through a simple linear regression resulted in a significant model: F (1, 49) = 79.10, p < .001, R² 13 %, with an equation Y = β0 (17.53) + β1 (-0.32) X. The results showed that increased connectedness to school is associated with less depression symptoms.
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