The COVID-19 pandemic has imposed a wide variety of unprecedented challenges, many of which appear to be disproportionately affecting the mental health and well-being of young adults. While there is evidence to suggest university students experience high rates of mental health disorders, less is known about the specific impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on student mental health and how they are coping with this stress. To address this gap, we conducted an online study among undergraduate students (n = 366) to examine the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on academics, social isolation, and mental health, as well as the extent to which they have been implementing a variety of coping strategies. The pandemic had a more pronounced negative effect on female students' academics, social isolation, stress and mental health compared to male counterparts. Moreover, for females, frequent use of social media as a coping mechanism was associated with greater perceived negative impacts on their academic performance and stress levels, compared to males. However, frequent social media use related to similar negative mental health effects for both males and females. While male and female students both reported using substances to cope, for males the use of cannabis was associated with greater negative impacts on academic outcomes, stress and mental health compared to females. These findings highlight the need for adequate student support services across the post-secondary sector, and point to the importance of gender informed interventions to address the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Cognitive control and (cognitive) flexibility play an important role in an individual’s ability to adapt to continuously changing environments. In addition to facilitating goal-directed behaviors, cognitive control and flexibility have been implicated in emotion regulation, and disturbances of these abilities are present in mood and anxiety disorders. In the context of stressful experiences, the reported studies examined processes related to cognitive control and flexibility, emotional regulation and depressive symptoms. To this end, a brief (18-item) self-report measure – the Cognitive Control and Flexibility Questionnaire (CCFQ) – was developed. This questionnaire measures an individual’s perceived ability to exert control over intrusive, unwanted (negative) thoughts and emotions, and their ability to flexibly cope with a stressful situation. In Study 1, the CCFQ was assessed among both university students (N = 300) and a community sample (N = 302). Preliminary analyses suggested a stable and reliable two-factor structure, that of cognitive control over emotion, and appraisal and coping flexibility. Scores on the CCFQ were strongly associated with greater depressive symptoms, even after controlling for other measures that had been taken to reflect cognitive control and (in)flexibility (e.g., the Ruminative Response Scale; Perseverative Thinking Questionnaire). In Study 2 (N = 368), lower scores on the CCFQ were related to more negative stressor appraisals (i.e., greater perceived threat and uncontrollability) of a personally meaningful stressful event. Perceptions of threat and uncontrollability, in turn, partially accounted for the association between CCFQ subscale scores and depressive symptoms. The relation between lower CCFQ scores and heightened depressive symptoms was also partially accounted for by less frequent engagement in problem-focused coping and more use of emotion-focused methods. In Study 3 (N = 47 females), lower scores on the cognitive control over emotion component of the CCFQ predicted elevated negative affect and an exacerbated cortisol response following an acute psychosocial stressor (Trier Social Stress Test). The present research points to the CCFQ as a useful self-report tool to identify ways through which cognitive control and flexibility might be manifested in stressful situations, and how reductions in flexibility might be accompanied by elevated symptoms of depression.

Emerging adults, including post-secondary education students, are disproportionately affected by the social and economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. The speed with which society moved in attempt to minimize the spread of the virus left many students with uncertainty and concern about their health, mental health, and academic futures. Considering that post-secondary students are a population at risk, it is important to determine how students respond in the face of the pandemic, and what coping mechanisms or supports will result in improved mental health outcomes. This knowledge will be helpful for post-secondary institutions to understand how COVID-19 has influenced the health and well-being of their students, and may facilitate the implementation of strategies to support their students. This narrative review explores evidence on how COVID-19 has impacted students with the overall goal to provide a set of recommendations to post-secondary institutions to help meet the evolving needs of this population.

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