A repeated cross-sectional survey assessing university students' stress, depression, anxiety, and suicidality in the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic in Poland

Abstract

Background The time of widespread outbreaks of infectious diseases can lead to elevated stress and mental health problems among all persons affected, and in particular those sub-groups of the population that are at an increased risk of mental health problems. One such vulnerable group constitutes university students. The aim of this study is to assess stress, depression, anxiety, and suicidality among different groups of university students (medical, psychology, and other). Methods Using a repeated cross-sectional study design, we collected survey data among a large sample of 7228 university students from Poland (mean age = 22.78, s.d. = 4.40; 81% female). Data were collected in five waves, during the first 2 months of the COVID-19 pandemic in Europe (March and April 2020). Results The results demonstrate a significant increase in depression levels as the pandemic was progressing. We also found that female students scored significantly higher than male students on depression, anxiety, and stress. Psychology students recorded the lowest scores on depression and anxiety. Young adult students (aged 18–24 years) had more symptoms of depression, anxiety, and suicidality than adult students (⩾25 years). Conclusions These results provide insights into stress and mental health among university students during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic. Findings can be used for a more effective identification of students who may struggle during next stages of the pandemic and future crises.

Depressive Symptoms in Swiss University Students during the COVID-19 Pandemic and Their Correlates

“…In the present study, female gender was associated with a higher risk of reporting depressive symptoms, which is in line with a large body of previous findings [ 24 , 25 , 26 , 27 , 30 , 31 , 32 , 33 , 34 ]. Moreover, students with a migration background, i.e., double citizens and foreign nationals, and students from families with lower socioeconomic status were more likely to have depressive symptoms.…”

“…Moreover, we found a substantially higher prevalence of depressive symptoms in female (30.8% (95% CI: 28.6–33.0)) and male (24.8% (95% CI: 21.7–28.1)) students during the COVID-19 pandemic as compared to a matched sample of the Swiss national population before the pandemic, where the respective prevalence was 10.9% (95% CI: 8.9–13.2) lower in women and 8.5% (6.6–11.0) lower in men ( p < 0.001). This finding is consistent with previous cohort and cross-sectional studies of university students, which reported that students became more depressed during the COVID-19 pandemic restrictions [ 28 , 30 , 51 ]. A large study from the United States found that the prevalence of depressive symptoms among students more than doubled between March/July 2019 and May/July 2020 (32%) [ 28 ], and a large Chinese study reported a prevalence of 30.1% and 14.5% for students who were under quarantine versus students who were not under quarantine, respectively [ 52 ].…”

Medical Studies during the COVID-19 Pandemic: The Impact of Digital Learning on Medical Students’ Burnout and Mental Health

“…Mental health also deteriorated in our study population during lockdown. This is in keeping with other studies, which demonstrates a significant increase in depression levels as the pandemic was progressing [ 23 ]. This finding, however, should be interpreted with caution given the fact that there are confounding factors, other than digital learning alone, which may have contributed to the overall deterioration of mental health.…”

Stress and associated factors among French university students under the COVID-19 lockdown: The results of the PIMS-CoV 19 study

“…The present study was performed during a critical time period when the population was under lockdown, which is of public health significance for a student population at an increased risk of mental health problems ( Debowska et al., 2020 ). Our findings highlight that most of the participants experienced moderate to severe stress levels due to COVID-19.…”