Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine war on stress and anxiety in students: A systematic review

Abstract

BackgroundThe outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic at the end of 2019 and the Russian-Ukrainian war in February 2022 created restrictions and uncertainties that affected the general population’s mental health. One of the affected groups was students. This systematic review summarizes the current literature on the prevalence, outcomes, and interventions for stress and anxiety among university, college, graduate, or postsecondary populations.MethodsA systematic literature search was performed on PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus, Embase, Cochrane Library, CINAHL, PsychInfo, and ProQuest, following PRISMA guidelines. Specific inclusion and exclusion criteria were applied, and screening was performed to identify the definitive studies.ResultsThe prevalence of anxiety was relatively high, ranging from 88.9 to 13.63%, and the prevalence of stress ranged from 56 to 28.14%. The predictors of stress and anxiety included young age, gender being female, STEM course, loneliness, low academic level in school, urban lockdown, confinement, having a preexisting disease, having relatives or friends infected with COVID-19, and proximity to a COVID-19 zone. The predictors of stress included gender being female, living with family, living in a household with many people, being confined rather than having the freedom to relocate, proximity to confirmed cases of COVID-19, lack of access to materials on COVID-19, preexisting mental disorders, and lack of knowledge on the preventable nature of COVID-19. The sources of anxiety among the university students identified in the study included academics, postponement of graduation, cancelation or disruption of planned events, inability to achieve goals, and finances. In addition, the students used trauma-focused, forward-focused, task-oriented, emotion-oriented, and avoidance-oriented coping strategies.ConclusionThe included studies showed that stress and anxiety increased during the pandemic and the war, with gender and uncertainty playing a critical role. The studies provide insights into the widespread use of problem-focused and task-focused coping strategies despite their impact on increasing stress and anxiety.

Excess mortality in Ukraine during the course of COVID-19 pandemic in 2020–2021

“…In particular, the proper diagnostics, identification, treatment and reporting of COVID-19 cases around Ukraine as well as implementation of prevention measures became challenging 94 . In addition to that, there were indications of increase in stress and anxiety 92,95 . There was also overwhelming pressure on the Ukrainian healthcare system due to war casualties, reduced access to primary medical treatment, damages to the socioeconomic system and many other factors 92 .…”

Areas of Concern and Support among the Austrian General Population: A Qualitative Content Analytic Mapping of the Shift between Winter 2020/21 and Spring 2022

“…Moreover, Russia launched a large-scale military attack on Ukraine a few weeks before the start of the April 2022 survey. Limone et al [ 37 ] observed that stress and anxiety among students that were caused by the COVID-19 pandemic were additionally intensified by the Russian–Ukrainian war.…”

The Need for Psychiatric Treatment among Polish Users of Psychoactive Substances Is Increasing: This and Other Results from the Newest PolDrugs Survey

“…All of these factors may contribute to an increase in the number of psychoactive substance users who need mental health care. In addition, there is currently a war going on at Poland’s eastern border, which is certainly not without impact on the mental wellbeing of the region’s inhabitants [ 18 , 19 ]. It seems important to monitor the state of mental health in the group of psychoactive substance users and conduct further research to determine the exact causes of such a phenomenon, taking into account as many factors as possible that could cause such a sharp increase.…”