Objective:

To determine the prevalence of depression and its dimensions in soldiers in a Colombian battalion.

Method:

This cross-sectional study was conducted to 410 soldiers; a questionnaire about depression issues was used to interview them.

The prevalence of depression was analyzed in general and specific terms. Addiotionally, some factors of interest that are associated with it were studied too.

Result:

In general terms, the depression prevalence was 8,8%. On the other hand, the prevalence of the depression dimensions was: 11,7% for negative self-esteem, 24,6% for suicidal thoughts, 56,8% for poor social image perception, 26,3% for negative affect, 23, 4% for helplessness, and 19,3% for avoidance tendencies.

Conclusion:

To conclude, it is necessary to improve the selection criteria in order to analyze the soldiers’ mental health and, in this way, not to choose the candidates with depressive tendencies.

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