Engagement in Health Risk Behaviours before and during the COVID-19 Pandemic in German University Students: Results of a Cross-Sectional Study

Busse, Heide; Buck, Christoph; Stock, Christiane; Zeeb, Hajo; Pischke, Claudia R.; Fialho, Paula Mayara Matos; Wendt, Claus; Helmer, Stefanie M.

doi:10.3390/ijerph18041410

Cited by 85 publications

(107 citation statements)

References 55 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…We found associations between changes in all analysed health behaviours (smoking, alcohol drinking, and physical activity) and speci c person characteristics, such as higher age, lower education level, and higher net household income. Comparable associations have also been found by other international research groups [28, 29,31,43]. As previous studies suggested, aspects such as stress, boredom and anxiety seem to negatively in uence health behaviour change during country-speci c COVID-19 restrictions [27,28,30,31,43].…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 60%

“…Current studies report heterogeneous results about the change in smoking, drinking behaviour, and physical activity [27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34][43][44][45]. Many of these studies were conducted as online surveys, and data were reported as being not representative for the general population of the respective countries.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Maybe certain groups of people now have more time available due to the new circumstances or that online courses are increasingly offered and used [47] and can be an important aspect to maintained or even increased the level of physical activity during the restricted sport offers. A web-based survey conducted on May 2020 (12-29th ) among 5021 students of four German universities (mean age 24.4 years) stated, that 30.6% of the respondents reported an increase in vigorous physical activity and 19.3% a decrease [43]. Characteristics associated with a change in health behaviour were being female, younger age, being bored and having depression symptoms.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Did self‐reported tobacco smoking, alcohol consumption, and physical activity change during the COVID-19 restrictions in Germany in spring 2020? Findings from a population survey (the DEBRA study)

Klosterhalfen

Kastaun

Kotz

2021

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Background Broad nationwide restrictions of social life and contacts were implemented in Germany on March 22nd, 2020, to reduce the spread of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus type 2 (SARS‑CoV‑2). It is unclear how these restrictions affected peoples’ health behaviour. Objective To: i) examine changes in self-reported health behaviour of the German population regarding tobacco smoking, alcohol consumption, and physical activity during the restrictions compared with the time prior to these restrictions; ii) explore associations between potential changes and socioeconomic and sociodemographic characteristics. Methods We used data from two waves (June-August 2020) of the German Study on Tobacco Use (DEBRA): a cross-sectional, representative, face-to‐face household survey in people aged ≥ 14 years (N = 4078). Associations between socioeconomic and sociodemographic characteristics and changes in each health behaviour were analysed using multinomial logistic regression analyses (categories of the dependent variable: increase, no change, decrease). Results People reported changes in their health behaviour: smoking increase = 24.0% (95% confidence interval (CI) = 21.5–26.7), decrease = 12.2% (95%CI = 10.4–14.4); alcohol consumption increase = 12.9% (95%CI = 11.7–14.1), decrease = 19.9% (95%CI = 18.4–21.3); physical activity increase = 18.5% (95%CI = 17.3–19.7); decrease = 29.4% (95%CI = 28.0–31.0). People with a lower level of education and younger age were more likely to report a harmful change in health behaviour. Conclusion The majority of people in Germany did not change their health behaviour during the 2020 corona restrictions. Among those who changed, relatively more increased their smoking and decreased their alcohol consumption and physical activity. Public health interventions in this context should particularly target people with lower socioeconomic status and younger age e.g., by offering more online courses.

show abstract

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 60%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Did self‐reported tobacco smoking, alcohol consumption, and physical activity change during the COVID-19 restrictions in Germany in spring 2020? Findings from a population survey (the DEBRA study)

Klosterhalfen

Kastaun

Kotz

2021

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…As part of the larger C19 ISWS, the online survey was conducted at four German universities in May 2020; participants included 5,021 students, approximately two-thirds of the sample came from the University of Bremen and the University of Siegen and the other third constituted students from the Charité—Universitätsmedizin Berlin and the Heinrich Heine University Duesseldorf ( 15 ). Students were predominantly invited to participate in the study via email and on the universities' homepages, as well as e-learning platforms.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Perceptions of Study Conditions and Depressive Symptoms During the COVID-19 Pandemic Among University Students in Germany: Results of the International COVID-19 Student Well-Being Study

Fialho

Spatafora

Kühne

et al. 2021

Front. Public Health

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Background: Results of previous studies examining the impact of the SARS-CoV-1 epidemic in 2003 on university students' mental well-being indicated severe mental health consequences. It is unclear how the current COVID-19 pandemic and the changes in study conditions due to federal regulations affected mental well-being in the German student population. We examined university students' perceptions of study conditions during the COVID-19 pandemic and investigated associations between study conditions and depressive symptoms.Methods: A cross-sectional online survey was conducted in Germany in May 2020 at four universities (N = 5,021, 69% female, mean age: 24 years, SD: 5.1). Perceived study conditions, as well as sociodemographic information, were assessed with self-generated items and the CES-D 8 scale was used to determine depressive symptoms. Associations between perceived study conditions (academic stress and academic satisfaction), in general, and confidence to complete the semester, in particular, and depressive symptoms were analyzed using generalized linear regressions.Results: Fifty-four percent of survey participants felt that the university workload had significantly increased since the COVID-19 pandemic; 48% were worried that they would not be able to successfully complete the academic year; 47% agreed that the change in teaching methods caused significant stress. Regarding depressive symptoms, the mean score of the CES-D 8 scale was 9.25. Further, a positive association between perceived study conditions and depressive symptoms was found (p < 0.001), indicating that better study conditions were associated with fewer depressive symptoms. Results of the generalized linear regression suggest that better student mental well-being was related to higher confidence in completing the semester.Conclusions: This study provides first insights into perceived study conditions and associations with depressive symptoms among students during the COVID-19 pandemic in Germany. Findings underline the need for universities to provide intervention strategies targeting students' mental well-being during the course of the pandemic.

show abstract

“…In Europe, a study of German young adults demonstrated that 24.4% reported a decrease in binge drinking while 5.4% reported an increase (Busse et al, 2021). These results suggest a rough estimate of the relative proportion of the young adult population who may respond to the pandemic consistent with either the Availability and Stress and Coping hypotheses.…”

Section: Changes In Alcohol Use During the Covid-19 Health Emergencymentioning

confidence: 89%

Patterns of Alcohol Use among Italian Young Adults before and during a COVID-19 lockdown: A Latent Class Analysis Study

Aresi¹,

Sorgente²,

Cleveland³

et al. 2021

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Introduction: Two not mutually exclusive theories have been proposed to explain the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on alcohol use: The Availability hypothesis contends that reduced opportunities to drink due to the closure of outlets and consumption sites should lead to decreases in alcohol use, whereas the Stress and Coping hypothesis argues that those exposed to stressful situations may increase drinking. Aims: This study aimed to test such hypotheses by describing pre/during-COVID-19-pandemic changes in patterns of alcohol use among the Italian young adults (18–34 years).Methods: This study involves the secondary analysis of data collected in 2015 and 2020 from nationally representative samples of Italian young adults. Latent class analysis (LCA) was used to identify common patterns of alcohol use.Results: Five classes were found: current non-drinker class (CND), weekend risky (WRD) and weekend non-risky drinkers (WnRD), daily non-risky (DnRD) and daily risky drinkers (DRD). Results indicate gender-specific changes in the prevalence of the five drinker profiles from 2015 to 2020.Conclusions: In support to the Availability hypothesis, increases in abstaining women and men were observed, however among men there were also increases in the prevalence of patterns characterized by risky drinking and related harm (Stress and Coping hypothesis).

show abstract

Engagement in Health Risk Behaviours before and during the COVID-19 Pandemic in German University Students: Results of a Cross-Sectional Study

Cited by 85 publications

References 55 publications

Did self‐reported tobacco smoking, alcohol consumption, and physical activity change during the COVID-19 restrictions in Germany in spring 2020? Findings from a population survey (the DEBRA study)

Did self‐reported tobacco smoking, alcohol consumption, and physical activity change during the COVID-19 restrictions in Germany in spring 2020? Findings from a population survey (the DEBRA study)

Perceptions of Study Conditions and Depressive Symptoms During the COVID-19 Pandemic Among University Students in Germany: Results of the International COVID-19 Student Well-Being Study

Patterns of Alcohol Use among Italian Young Adults before and during a COVID-19 lockdown: A Latent Class Analysis Study

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About