The COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns were accompanied by an abrupt transition from face-to-face education to online education. The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on academic functioning and mood in Dutch pharmacy students and PhD candidates. A total of n = 341 participants completed an online survey including questions on mood and academic functioning, assessed retrospectively for before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. Overall, during COVID-19 lockdown, significantly more time was spent on academic activities, and study grades/output significantly improved. However, the overall effects were of small magnitude, and there was great variability among students, reporting either improved, unchanged or poorer academic functioning. Compared to before COVID-19, the lockdown periods were associated with significantly increased levels of stress, anxiety, depression, fatigue, and loneliness, and a significant reduction in optimism and happiness. Significant negative correlations were found between ‘performance quality’ and stress, ‘performance quality’ and fatigue, ‘study grades/output’ and stress, and between ‘study grades/output’ and fatigue. Correlations of mood and items related to academic interactions were not statistically significant. Differential effects were seen when the data was analyzed according to sex, living situation, and ethnicity, revealing that women, students living alone, and those with a migration background reported that COVID-19 lockdowns had greater negative mood effects and a more negative impact on academic functioning. Poorer sleep quality and reduced quality of life were significantly associated with reduced mood, as well as reduced academic performance quality and role satisfaction. Regression analysis revealed that being young and not having a non-Western migration background were predictors of improved performance quality. However, only being young was a significant predictor of improved study grades/output during the COVID-19 pandemic. Increased levels of stress and fatigue were significant predictors of both reduced performance quality and poorer study grades/output during the COVID-19 pandemic. In conclusion, for the sample as a whole, the transition to online education during the COVID-19 lockdown was judged as having significant positive effects on academic performance. The lockdown periods were associated with significantly reduced mood and reduced social interactions. It should be taken into account that about one third of students reported academic functioning to be poorer during the COVID-19 pandemic. This represents a substantial group of students who require more attention and guidance to make a successful transition to online education and cope with lockdown-associated stress and fatigue.

Mixed results have been published on the impact of the 2019 coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and its associated lockdown periods on academic functioning, mood, and health correlates such as alcohol consumption. Whereas a number of students report an impaired academic performance and increased alcohol intake during lockdown periods, other students report no change or an improvement in academic functioning and a reduced alcohol consumption. This data descriptor article describes the dataset of a study investigating the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on academic functioning. To investigate this, an online survey was conducted among Dutch pharmacy students, PhD candidates and postdoctoral researchers (postdocs) of Utrecht University, the Netherlands. Compared to before the COVID-19 pandemic, the survey assessed possible changes in self-reported academic functioning, mood and health correlates such as alcohol consumption, perceived immune functioning and sleep quality. Retrospective assessments were made for four periods, including (1) the year 2019 (the period before COVID-19), (2) the first lockdown period (15 March–11 May 2020), (3) summer 2020 (no lockdown) and (4) the second lockdown (November 2020–April 2021). This article describes the content of the survey and corresponding dataset. The survey had a response rate of 24.3% and was completed by 345 participants.

Purpose The aim of this study was to evaluate whether or not living alone or together throughout the lockdown had an impact on mood, perceived immune fitness, as well as the presence and severity of COVID-19 symptoms. Methods N = 505 participants completed an online survey, which included questions on living situations, as well as mood, perceived immune fitness and COVID-19 symptom presence and severity. These factors were assessed retrospectively for the time periods before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. Results An overall decrease in mood was observed for both those living alone and together during the lockdown period. However, significantly larger increases in feelings of loneliness were observed for the group living alone. Furthermore, both groups reported decreases in perceived immune fitness, whereas only the group living alone reported a significant increase in COVID-19 symptom presence and severity. Moreover, significant correlations were found between perceived immune fitness, anxiety, and loneliness. These correlations were strongest in the group living alone. Lastly, positive correlations were found between perceived immune fitness and mood outcomes with being active, optimistic and the ability to cope with stress. Increased optimism, being more active and the adequate ability to cope with stress were associated with a reduced negative impact on perceived immune fitness. Conclusion The first COVID-19 lockdown period in the Netherlands was a challenging period for both people who lived alone and those living together, resulting in decreases in mood and poorer perceived immune fitness. Those living alone were, however, more heavily impacted by the lockdown restrictions. This was further reflected by the increased presence and severity of COVID-19 symptoms in people who lived alone during the first COVID-19 lockdown in The Netherlands.

Since the outbreak of the 2019 coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, lockdown periods have been installed to counteract the spread of the virus. These lockdowns, characterized by social isolation, have been associated with mood changes and increased stress. Individuals have used various strategies to cope with the negative effects of being in lockdown, including increasing the frequency and quantity of alcohol consumption. The aim of this study was to investigate mood before and during lockdown of individuals who reported consuming more, less, or the same amount of alcohol during lockdown, and examine how this impacts and perceived immune fitness and the presence and severity of COVID-19 symptoms. Analysis included a sub-sample from the ‘Corona Lockdown: how fit are you?’ (CLOFIT) study, comprising N = 761 participants who reported consuming alcohol in 2020. The results of the online survey showed that half of the participants did not alter their weekly alcohol consumption during lockdown (50.4%), whereas 25.9% of drinkers reported a reduction and 23.8% reported an increase in weekly alcohol consumption. Compared to individuals that did not alter their drinking behaviour, both increased and reduced alcohol consumption during lockdown was associated with poorer mood and higher stress levels. Increased alcohol consumption was associated with significantly reduced perceived immune fitness and a high presence and severity of COVID-19 symptoms. This effect was not significant among individuals with reduced or unaltered alcohol consumption.

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