Introduction The association of depression (depressive symptoms) with anxiety, insomnia, social support, and cognitive social capital has been studied in medical students. However, these associations have been analyzed independently, without adjusting or exploring possible interactions between them.

Objective To evaluate the association of depression with anxiety, insomnia, social support, and cognitive social capital in medical students from Santa Marta, Colombia. Method: A cross-sectional study was designed, including medical students who reported symptoms of anxiety (GAD-7, Cronbach’s alpha of 0.91), insomnia (Athens Insomnia Scale, Cronbach’s alpha of 0.80), social support (Oslo-3, Cronbach’s alpha of 0.45), cognitive social capital (CSCS-5, Cronbach’s alpha of 0.77) and depression (PHQ-9, Cronbach’s alpha of 0.88). Using logistic regression, they measured the associations and interactions for depression.

Results Three-hundred-nine students aged 18 and 39 participated (M=20.8, SD=2,7); 54.7% were women. 31.1% reported anxiety; 41.1%, insomnia; 57.3%, limited social support; 26.3%, poor cognitive social capital; and 39.5%, depression. Anxiety (OR=9.78, 95%CI 4.90-19.45), insomnia (OR=8.04, 95%CI 4.30-15.05), and the interaction between limited social support and poor cognitive social capital (OR=2.36, 95%CI 1.04-5.34) were significantly associated with depression (Hosmer-Lemeshow chi-square of 7.69, degree of freedom of 4, and p-value of 0.10, R-squared of Nagelkerke of 0.55).

Conclusions Forty percent of medical students report symptoms of depression. Depression is significantly associated with anxiety, insomnia, social support, and cognitive social capital. New studies should explore other possible variables related to depression in Colombian medical students.

The authors have declared no competing interest.

The Vice-Rector's Office for Research of the University of Magdalena financed the project through resolution 0429 of 2022.

I confirm all relevant ethical guidelines have been followed, and any necessary IRB and/or ethics committee approvals have been obtained.

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The details of the IRB/oversight body that provided approval or exemption for the research described are given below:

The Institutional Ethics Committee of the Universidad del Magdalena, Santa Marta, Colombia, approved the project according to minutes 005 of the June 9, 2022, virtual ordinary session.

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Declaration of conflicting interests: The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare.

Financing: the Vice-Rector’s Office for Research of the University of Magdalena financed the project through resolution 0429 of 2022.

Ethics approval: the Institutional Ethics Committee of the Universidad del Magdalena, Santa Marta, Colombia, approved the project according to minutes 005 of the virtual ordinary session of June 9, 2022.

Consent to participate: Participants provided consent via online informed consent.

Data availability statement: Data supporting this research may be requested from the corresponding author with reasonable justification.

All data produced in the present study are available upon reasonable request to the author.