Depression, COVID-19 Anxiety, Subjective Well-being, and Academic Performance in University Students With COVID-19-Infected Relatives: A Network Analysis

Abstract

This study aimed to examine the relationship between anxiety, depression, subjective well-being, and academic performance in Peruvian university health science students with COVID-19-infected relatives. Eight hundred two university students aged 17–54 years (Mean 21.83; SD = 5.31); 658 females (82%) and 144 males (18%); who completed the Patient Health Questionnaire-2, Coronavirus Anxiety Scale, Subjective Well-being Scale (SWB), and Self-reporting of Academic Performance participated. A partial unregularized network was estimated using the ggmModSelect function. Expected influence (EI) values were calculated to identify the central nodes and a two-tailed permutation test for the difference between the two groups (COVID-19 infected and uninfected). The results reveal that a depression and well-being node (PHQ1-SWB3) presents the highest relationship. The most central nodes belonged to COVID-19 anxiety, and there are no global differences between the comparison networks; but at the local level, there are connections in the network of COVID-19-infected students that are not in the group that did not present this diagnosis. It is concluded that anxious–depressive symptomatology and its relationship with well-being and evaluation of academic performance should be considered in order to understand the impact that COVID-19 had on health sciences students.

The Impact of COVID-19 on the Mental Well-Being of College Students

“…However, smaller sample studies concerning similar problems support our results; therefore, we assume our analyzed group may represent the general population relatively accurately. There have already been published studies on a similar size of population with reliable results [28,65,66]. First, our result of the decreased well-being of students is supported by Elmer's study, which revealed higher levels of stress, anxiety, loneliness, and depressive symptoms during the COVID-19 pandemic [65].…”

Relationship between subjective well-being and depressive disorders: Novel findings of cohort variations and demographic heterogeneities

“…Specifically, research based on the Canadian Community Health Survey (CCHS 2005–2014) has found that individuals with lower subjective well-being generally have poorer mental health, and therefore use mental health services more frequently ( Michalski et al, 2022 ) Moreover, depression is also a psychological state that is opposite to happiness. Some studies show that the more anxiety and depression people feel, the lower their subjective well-being ( Freire and Ferreira, 2020 ; Yildirim and Balahmar, 2020 ; Ventura-León et al, 2022 ). However, whether happiness can weaken people’s perceived depressive disorders still remains to be empirically tested.…”

“…Moreover, happiness is an important predictor of mental health, and people with lower happiness levels use mental health services more frequently ( Michalski et al, 2022 ). In terms of mental disorders, which is another side of mental condition ( Defeyter et al, 2021 ), some scholars believe that anxiety, loneliness, and psychological stress are also closely related to subjective well-being ( Ventura-León et al, 2022 ). In addition, psychological capital, which is an important aspect of mental health, is also found to be positively correlated with happiness ( Datu and Valdez, 2019 ; Turliuc and Candel, 2021 ; Shan et al, 2022 ).…”

Teachers as the agent of change for student mental health: the role of teacher care and teacher support in Chinese students’ well-being

“…The second dimension is subjective well-being, which relates to students’ personal and emotional appraisal of their learning experiences ( Liu et al, 2016 ). Previous research on this construct ( Rodríguez-Fernández et al, 2018 ; Ventura-León et al, 2022 ) has revealed that students with optimum levels of psychological and subjective well-being perform more effectively in academic settings.…”