The impact of the COVID-19 epidemic on students’ mental health: A cross-sectional study

Abstract

Background The COVID-19 pandemic is currently one of the biggest public health threats for people’s mental health. A particularly endangered group were students, who became highly affected by measures of social distance due to their active lifestyle. Therefore, the aim of this paper is to assess the level of self-reported stress, anxiety and depression of the student population in Serbia, in relation to demographic characteristics, living and studying conditions, students’ activities during the epidemic, potential coronavirus infection and general, mental and physical health. Methods We conducted a cross-sectional study of 580 undergraduate medical students from the University of Belgrade during the 2020/2021 school year. Mental health data were collected using the Depression Anxiety Stress Scales (DASS-21). Both bivariate and multivariate logistic regression analysis were used to examine the association between independent variables with the dependent variable mental health. Results Women made up the majority of the sample with 80.3%. A total of 64.5%, 66.8% and 66.7% of students between the ages of 21 and 30 had severe depressive symptoms, severe degree of anxiety, and a severe degree of stress, respectively. Women almost twice as often (OR = 1.89) assessed their anxiety as severe and almost two and a half times more (OR = 2.39) perceived stress as severe compared to men. Students who lived with their families during studies two and a half times (OR = 2.57) more often assessed their stress as severe, compared to students who lived alone. Fifth- and sixth-year students were less likely to rate depression and anxiety as serious than the first-year students. Conclusions Medical students reported their health as severely impaired in terms of depression, anxiety and stress reactions. The results indicate the need to launch a mental health program in the form of counseling and emotional support to students affected by the pandemic.

Depression, Anxiety and Stress During the COVID-19 Pandemic Among Serbian University Students

“…Their findings indicate that depression, anxiety, and stress were present in 13.6%, 25.6%, and 26% of students, respectively. These values are significantly lower than those reported by the studies conducted during the pandemic (16,17) but also lower than the values obtained through our study. This clearly indicates that the pandemic has had a significant impact on the mental health of the student population.…”

“…Severe and extremely severe forms of depression were more common in rural areas (11.8% and 7.6%, respectively) than in urban areas (4.9% and 5.2%, respectively), while moderate depression was ten times more common in urban settlements (11.7%) than in rural settlements (1.1%). And other studies have shown similar results to ours (16,17). Contrary to our results, some studies have shown that older students have a higher frequency of depressive symptoms (28).…”

“…493 students participated in the study, 16.6% of which were from the Faculty of Mechanical and Civil Engineering and 76.7% of which were from the Faculty of Higher Vocational Studies. 23.3% of the respondents were male and 76.7% female.…”

“…Another study was conducted with 580 undergraduate students of medicine at the University of Belgrade during the school year 2020 -2021. It used Depression Anxiety Stress Scales (DASS-21) and showed that two thirds of the students who participated (age ranging from 21 to 30) reported symptoms of depression, extremely severe forms of anxiety, and severe stress (16). The vulnerability of student population and the deterioration of mental health in this population have been detected in many other countries.…”

Effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic on University Students' Mental Health: A Literature Review

“…Studies consistently found that female students were more at risk for increased anxiety during the pandemic. The research does not firmly establish why the female gender appears at significant risk for developing anxiety and increased stress [ 8 , 9 , 14 - 16 , 18 , 20 , 28 - 32 ]. This female factor could be due to the multifaceted nature of biological, psychosocial, cultural, and behavioral differences before and during the pandemic [ 29 ].…”