Zhu Jenney, Racine Nicole, Xie Elisabeth Bailin, Park Julianna, Watt Julianna, Eirich Rachel, Dobson Keith, Madigan Sheri
Department of Psychology, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada.
Alberta Children's Hospital Research Institute, Calgary, AB, Canada.
Front Psychiatry. 2021 Dec 10;12:777251. doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2021.777251. eCollection 2021.
The COVID-19 pandemic has posed notable challenges to post-secondary students, causing concern for their psychological well-being. In the face of school closures, academic disruptions, and constraints on social gatherings, it is crucial to understand the extent to which mental health among post-secondary students has been impacted in order to inform support implementation for this population. The present meta-analysis examines the global prevalence of clinically significant depression and anxiety among post-secondary students during the COVID-19 pandemic. Several moderator analyses were also performed to examine sources of variability in depression and anxiety prevalence rates. A systematic search was conducted across six databases on May 3, 2021, yielding a total of 176 studies (1,732,456 participants) which met inclusion criteria. Random-effects meta-analyses of 126 studies assessing depression symptoms and 144 studies assessing anxiety symptoms were conducted. The pooled prevalence estimates of clinically elevated depressive and anxiety symptoms for post-secondary students during the COVID-19 pandemic was 30.6% (95% CI: 0.274, 0.340) and 28.2% (CI: 0.246, 0.321), respectively. The month of data collection and geographical region were determined to be significant moderators. However, student age, sex, type (i.e., healthcare student vs. non-healthcare student), and level of training (i.e., undergraduate, university or college generally; graduate, medical, post-doctorate, fellow, trainee), were not sources of variability in pooled rates of depression and anxiety symptoms during the pandemic. The current study indicates a call for continued access to mental health services to ensure post-secondary students receive adequate support during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. PROSPERO website: https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/, identifier: CRD42021253547.
新冠疫情给高等院校学生带来了显著挑战，引发了对他们心理健康的担忧。面对学校关闭、学业中断以及社交聚会受限的情况，了解高等院校学生的心理健康受到何种程度的影响，对于为这一群体提供支持至关重要。本荟萃分析考察了新冠疫情期间高等院校学生中具有临床意义的抑郁和焦虑的全球患病率。还进行了多项调节分析，以探究抑郁和焦虑患病率变异性的来源。2021年5月3日，对六个数据库进行了系统检索，共获得176项符合纳入标准的研究（1,732,456名参与者）。对126项评估抑郁症状的研究和144项评估焦虑症状的研究进行了随机效应荟萃分析。新冠疫情期间高等院校学生临床抑郁和焦虑症状升高的合并患病率估计分别为30.6%（95%置信区间：0.274, 0.340）和28.2%（置信区间：0.246, 0.321）。数据收集月份和地理区域被确定为显著的调节因素。然而，学生年龄、性别、类型（即医学生与非医学生）以及培训水平（即一般本科、大学或学院；研究生、医学、博士后、研究员、实习生），并非疫情期间抑郁和焦虑症状合并患病率变异性的来源。当前研究表明，需要持续提供心理健康服务，以确保高等院校学生在新冠疫情期间及之后获得充分支持。PROSPERO网站：https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/，标识符：CRD42021253547。
