De Man Jeroen, Buffel Veerle, van de Velde Sarah, Bracke Piet, Van Hal Guido F, Wouters Edwin
Department of Family Medicine and Population Health, University of Antwerp, Doornstraat 331, 2610, Wilrijk, Belgium.
Department of Sociology, University of Antwerp, Antwerp, Belgium.
Arch Public Health. 2021 Jan 7;79(1):3. doi: 10.1186/s13690-020-00522-y.
The surge of COVID-19 infections has prompted many countries to take unprecedented policy measures. In Belgium, the authorities implemented a nation-wide stay-at-home order for several months. Evidence of the mental health effect of such measures is scarce. A recent review by Brooks et al. has compiled a defined list of stressors affecting people's mental health under quarantine during previous epidemic settings. This study aims to test the association between these stressors and the mental health of students attending higher education during the stay-at-home order in Belgium.
In this cross-sectional study, 18,301 students from 13 higher education institutions (HEI) participated in an online survey between 26 April and 11 May 2020. We assessed the association between potential stressors and depressive symptoms severity scores and structural equation modeling was used to assess how stressors may mediate the association between duration of exposure and depressive symptoms severity.
The stressors proposed by Brooks et al. were found to be associated with depressive symptoms severity. The stressors 'perceived academic stress', 'institutional dissatisfaction' and 'fear of being infected' were associated with substantially higher depressive symptoms severity scores. The association between duration of exposure and depressive symptoms severity was mediated by 'academic stress'. Being in a steady relationship and living together with others were both associated with a lower depressive symptoms severity.
Findings underline the need for a student-centered approach and mental health prevention. Authorities and HEIs should consider whether and if so, how a stay-at-home order should be implemented.
新冠疫情感染激增促使许多国家采取了前所未有的政策措施。在比利时，当局实施了为期数月的全国居家令。关于此类措施对心理健康影响的证据很少。布鲁克斯等人最近的一项综述汇总了在以往疫情期间隔离期间影响人们心理健康的一系列明确的压力源。本研究旨在检验这些压力源与比利时居家令期间接受高等教育的学生心理健康之间的关联。
在这项横断面研究中，来自13所高等教育机构的18301名学生于2020年4月26日至5月11日参与了一项在线调查。我们评估了潜在压力源与抑郁症状严重程度评分之间的关联，并使用结构方程模型来评估压力源如何介导暴露持续时间与抑郁症状严重程度之间的关联。
发现布鲁克斯等人提出的压力源与抑郁症状严重程度相关。“感知到的学业压力”“对机构的不满”和“害怕被感染”这些压力源与明显更高的抑郁症状严重程度评分相关。暴露持续时间与抑郁症状严重程度之间的关联由“学业压力”介导。处于稳定恋爱关系以及与他人同住均与较低的抑郁症状严重程度相关。
研究结果强调了采取以学生为中心的方法和进行心理健康预防的必要性。当局和高等教育机构应考虑是否以及如何实施居家令。
