Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the experience and mental health of university students studying in Canada and the UK: a cross-sectional study

Abstract

ObjectivesTo explore the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the experiences and mental health of university students.DesignA cross-sectional study consisting of an electronic survey about students’ experiences and concerns during the pandemic and the associated impact. In addition to the quantitative analysis, free-text responses were extracted and analysed using a framework technique.SettingQueen’s University in Canada and the University of Oxford in the UK.ParticipantsUndergraduate students at Queen’s University and first-year undergraduate students at the University of Oxford were invited to complete the COVID-19 supplement survey. This study included data from 3013 Queen’s students as the primary focus and 339 Oxford students as a secondary comparison.ResultsFemales at Queen’s reported greater adherence to government recommendations to prevent the spread of COVID-19 (91.3% vs 86.7%, χ2 p<0.01) and were more likely to self-isolate (63.9% vs 57.0%, χ2 p<0.01) than males. A similar trend was seen among Oxford students. Students’ concerns were wide ranging including those related to their learning experience, finances and future academic and career prospects. 78.9% of Queen’s students and 50.4% of first-year Oxford students reported worries about the long-term impact on their academic and job prospects. A sizeable proportion of students also reported that the pandemic negatively impacted their plans to continue at university (29.4% of Queen’s, 14.2% of Oxford) and disrupted activities important to their mental well-being. Key themes identified in the qualitative component included the negative impacts of social isolation, challenging academic changes and disruption to support services and means of coping.ConclusionsOverall, findings underscore the importance of addressing areas of student concern and the aspects of student life negatively impacted by the pandemic in order to maintain student well-being and support a successful university experience.

Remote Working and Home Learning: How the Italian Academic Population Dealt with Changes Due to the COVID-19 Pandemic Lockdown

“…Similar findings have been observed in Italian undergraduate students [13], where female students reported more anxiety symptoms than males [6,[13][14][15].…”

“…More specifically, some studies revealed that students perceived a high degree of insecurity regarding the near future of the education process [27][28][29]. Others showed that students' psychological distress was related to the uncertainty of future career prospects [19], and increased concerns about the academic outcomes [15,27,28].…”

The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Mental Health of First-Year Undergraduate Students Studying at a Major Canadian University: A Successive Cohort Study

“…Eleven items assessing the perceived impact of the pandemic and associated social distancing and remote learning, developed in collaboration with student partners, were added to the follow-up survey for Cohort 3. Students rated the impact on their university experience, including perceptions of remote learning, social relationships, leisure activities, and finances on a 5-point scale from 1 = “Very negative” to 5 = “Very positive.” 19 In addition, in both the baseline and follow-up surveys, students in Cohort 3 provided free text responses to the open-ended question “ Are there any other significant impacts related to the COVID-19 pandemic on your mental health, wellbeing, or education that you would like to comment on? ”…”

Life Satisfaction and Perceived Stress versus Health Promoting Behavior among Medical Students during the COVID-19 Pandemic

“…From this moment, the normal course of medical study changed diametrically. Difficulties related to the reorganization of academic science, as well as direct contact with patients during classes in clinical subjects, where the potential risk of COVID-19 infection was much higher than in other conditions, the need to exercise particular caution, wear protective clothing, and the constantly changing guidelines for procedures were factors generating tension and affecting health and life satisfaction [ 17 , 18 ]. Effective coping with stress in this period could be of particular importance for minimizing its negative effects, also in the long term [ 19 ].…”