The Psychological Impact of Strict and Prolonged Confinement on Business Students during the COVID-19 Pandemic at a Spanish University

Abstract

The study was carried out to examine the situation of university students from one month after the beginning of a very strict confinement process in Spain during the COVID-19 pandemic. Students responded to a survey which included the 7-item Generalized Anxiety Disorder Scale (GAD-7) together with other questions relating to their general well-being from the European Quality of Life Survey (EQLS). A total of 198 university students answered the web-based survey. The questionnaire was generated using Microsoft Forms and was explained and distributed online. The results indicated that around 18.7% of students were suffering from severe anxiety and 70.2% were suffering either mild or moderate anxiety at this point of the strict confinement process. The findings show that when emotional well-being (quality of sleep, the perception of feeling fear, death of a relative) is reduced and material well-being is negatively affected (income level) anxiety levels are increased. On the other hand, the results show that having good interpersonal relationships with family members and taking care of personal development (routines and habits that make them feel good) help reduce anxiety levels. The female students in the sample also suffered higher levels of anxiety than males during strict confinement.

Death Anxiety in Social Workers as a Consequence of the COVID-19 Pandemic

“…However, many of the demands of social workers during the first wave of the pandemic were more about the lack of certain services and resources to adequately develop their work activity in the telework format [ 22 , 23 , 24 ] than about the coping of the situation of the people with whom they worked, within a context of increased anxiety as a consequence of the confinement of the population. Some studies have analyzed the effects of the fear and anxiety caused by the pandemic in various groups [ 25 , 26 ], maximized by the impact generated by the media [ 27 ].…”

Effects of COVID-19 lockdown on university students’ anxiety disorder in Italy

“…Several analyses applied to university students showed higher rates of anxiety/depression and financial instability due to the pandemic all over the world (e.g., Esteves et al, 2021 ; Garvey et al, 2021 ; Jones et al, 2021 ). In this respect, Jones et al ( 2021 ), studying the City University of New York, underlined that more than half of the interviewed students (54.5%) reported relevant levels of anxiety/depression and an increased need for mental health services due to the pandemic.…”

“…Esteves et al ( 2021 ) detected a positive association between high levels of anxiety symptoms and occurrence of sleep problems among Brazilian university students during the lockdown period. Garvey et al ( 2021 ), using the GAD-7 (7-items Generalized Anxiety Disorder scale) test to detect anxiety levels in Spain, found a relevant proportion of university students affected by high levels of anxiety connected to the pandemic.…”

Os efeitos psicológicos do distanciamento social causado pelo novo Coronavírus em estudantes universitários

“…Outra pesquisa conduzida com estudantes universitários espanhóis por Garvey et al (2021), para averiguar como estavam se sentindo após um mês de rígido confinamento, identificou que 18,7% deles sofriam de ansiedade severa e 70,2% apresentavam sintomas de ansiedade em grau leve ou moderado, tendo as mulheres expressado os níveis mais elevados. Wieczorek et al (2021), constaram em um estudo realizado na Polônia com estudantes de graduação que, alunos do primeiro ano e mulheres tinham risco aumentado para transtornos psiquiátricos.…”