School of Business & Economics, National University of Ireland Galway, Galway, Ireland.
Department of Economics, Kemmy Business School, University of Limerick, Limerick, Ireland.
Ir J Psychol Med. 2024 Jun;41(2):211-219. doi: 10.1017/ipm.2022.2. Epub 2022 Feb 18.
To examine levels of psychological distress among higher education students in Ireland overall and across a range of personal, higher education, and socioeconomic characteristics, prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.
A cross-sectional online survey of college students in Ireland was undertaken in 2018. Data on 5201 students from 13 higher education institutions (HEIs) were analyzed. Stress, anxiety, and depression symptom scores based on the Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale (DASS-21) were calculated and reported, with statistical testing used to compare across groups.
Overall, 29.6% and 19.1% of respondents were classified in the mild to moderate and severe to extremely severe range for depression respectively. The corresponding proportions were 25.9% and 20.7% for anxiety, and 24.5% and 14.8% for stress. Differences across groups included higher levels of psychological distress for transgender and female students compared to males ( < 0.01), for gay/lesbian/bisexual students compared to heterosexuals ( < 0.01), for undergraduates compared to postgraduates ( < 0.01), for students from intermediate/technical/service/unskilled social classes compared to professional/self-employed social classes ( < 0.01), and for those with financial difficulties compared to those without financial difficulties ( < 0.01).
Rates of psychological distress were high amongst college students in Ireland prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, with substantial differences across groups. Due to study limitations, such as possible selection bias, the findings need replication. Further research is needed to determine the impact of the pandemic on the prevalence of mental illness in this population.
在 COVID-19 大流行之前，调查爱尔兰高等教育学生的整体心理困扰水平，并按个人、高等教育和社会经济特征进行细分。
2018 年对爱尔兰大学生进行了横断面在线调查。对来自 13 所高等教育机构（HEI）的 5201 名学生的数据进行了分析。根据抑郁、焦虑和压力量表（DASS-21）计算并报告了压力、焦虑和抑郁症状得分，并使用统计检验比较了各群体之间的差异。
总体而言，分别有 29.6%和 19.1%的受访者被归类为轻度至中度和重度至极度抑郁。焦虑的相应比例分别为 25.9%和 20.7%，压力的相应比例分别为 24.5%和 14.8%。各群体之间的差异包括：与男性相比，跨性别和女性学生的心理困扰水平更高（<0.01），同性恋/女同性恋/双性恋学生比异性恋学生更高（<0.01），本科生比研究生更高（<0.01），来自中级/技术/服务/非熟练社会阶层的学生比专业/自雇社会阶层的学生更高（<0.01），有经济困难的学生比没有经济困难的学生更高（<0.01）。
在 COVID-19 大流行之前，爱尔兰大学生的心理困扰率很高，各群体之间存在显著差异。由于研究的局限性，例如可能存在选择偏差，因此需要对这些发现进行复制。需要进一步研究以确定大流行对该人群精神疾病患病率的影响。
