Kohls Elisabeth, Baldofski Sabrina, Moeller Raiko, Klemm Sarah-Lena, Rummel-Kluge Christine
Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Medical Faculty, Leipzig University, Leipzig, Germany.
Front Psychiatry. 2021 Apr 6;12:643957. doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2021.643957. eCollection 2021.
The COVID-19 pandemic has been affecting everyone's daily life in unknown measures since its outbreak. Nearly all Universities around the globe were affected. Further, young people and University students in particular, are known to be vulnerable for developing mental disorders. This study aims to examine the mental health social and emotional well-being and perceived burdens of University students during COVID-19 pandemic lockdown in Germany. This cross-sectional and anonymous online survey among University students assessed mental health status with standardized measures (depressive symptoms, alcohol and drug consumption, and eating disorder symptoms), attitudes toward the COVID-19 pandemic and perceived burdens, and social and emotional aspects of the pandemic (social support, perceived stress, loneliness, and self-efficacy). In total, = 3,382 German University students participated. Nearly half of the students (49%) reported that they are worried or very much worried about the COVID-19 pandemic. The majority supports the governmental lockdown measures (85%). A Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) sum score of 10 or above, indicating clinically relevant depressive symptoms, was reported by 37% ( = 1,249). The PHQ-9 sum score was on average 8.66 ( = 5.46). Suicidal thoughts were indicated by 14.5% of the participants. Levels of depressive symptoms differed significantly for the different self-rated income changes during the pandemic (increase, decrease, no change in income). Further, levels of depressive symptoms and suicidal ideation differed significantly for students from different faculties. Multiple regression analyses revealed that not being a parent, having no indirect social contact one or two times a week, higher perceived stress, higher experienced loneliness, lower social support, and lower self-efficacy significantly predicted higher scores of depressive symptoms, also higher hazardous alcohol use, and higher levels of eating disorder symptoms. Other aspects of lifestyle such as social and cultural activities, dating, and hobbies were reported to be negatively affected during the pandemic. The present study implies that University students are vulnerable and due to elevated depressive symptoms at risk, being hit hard by the pandemic, but are in general coping adaptively. Low-threshold online interventions promoting help-seeking and also targeting various mental health conditions might bridge the gap the COVID-19 pandemic opened up recently.
自新冠疫情爆发以来，它一直在以未知的方式影响着每个人的日常生活。全球几乎所有大学都受到了影响。此外，众所周知，年轻人尤其是大学生容易患上精神障碍。本研究旨在调查德国新冠疫情封锁期间大学生的心理健康、社会和情感幸福感以及感知到的负担。这项针对大学生的横断面匿名在线调查使用标准化测量方法（抑郁症状、酒精和药物消费以及饮食失调症状）评估心理健康状况、对新冠疫情的态度和感知到的负担，以及疫情的社会和情感方面（社会支持、感知到的压力、孤独感和自我效能感）。共有3382名德国大学生参与。近一半的学生（49%）报告称他们担心或非常担心新冠疫情。大多数人支持政府的封锁措施（85%）。37%（n = 1249）的学生报告患者健康问卷-9（PHQ-9）总分在10分及以上，表明存在临床相关的抑郁症状。PHQ-9总分平均为8.66（标准差 = 5.46）。14.5%的参与者表示有自杀念头。在疫情期间不同自评收入变化（增加、减少、收入无变化）的情况下，抑郁症状水平存在显著差异。此外，不同院系的学生在抑郁症状水平和自杀意念方面也存在显著差异。多元回归分析显示，不是父母、每周没有一两次间接社交接触、感知到的压力更高、经历的孤独感更强、社会支持更低以及自我效能感更低，显著预测了更高的抑郁症状得分、更高的危险酒精使用水平和更高的饮食失调症状水平。据报告，生活方式的其他方面，如社交和文化活动、约会和爱好，在疫情期间受到了负面影响。本研究表明，大学生很脆弱，由于抑郁症状加剧而面临风险，受到疫情的沉重打击，但总体上正在适应性应对。促进寻求帮助并针对各种心理健康状况的低门槛在线干预措施可能会弥合新冠疫情最近造成的差距。
