INTERRELATION OF FIRST-SEMESTER STUDENTS' DEPRESSION WITH SOCIAL SUPPORT AND HARDINESS

The research analyses adaptation of the first-semester students in the environment of the university. Negative tendencies related to wellbeing, mental and physical health of the first-semester students have already been found in the previous studies in Latvia, Lithuania, the USA, and Russia. Depression is listed as one of the most essential negative expression of stress. The issue of the research - which psychological factors further stress management (in hardiness) and how they affect expressions of depression (severity). The research of the correlation shows statistically significant correlation among individual features. After dividing students depending on their depressiveness into groups with relatively high and low level of hardiness, it was concluded that there were more students with high hardiness indicators in the group with minimal depression (BDI-II scores: 0 - 13), however, students with low hardiness indicators dominated in the groups with mild (BDI-II scores: 14 - 19) and moderate depression (BDI-II scores: 20 - 28), the differences among the groups were statistically significant (chi 2 = 16.09; p <0.001).