Department of Child and Adolescent Psychotherapy, Institute of Psychology, Goethe-University Frankfurt, 60486 Frankfurt, Germany.
Dean's Office, Medical Faculty, Heidelberg University, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany.
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2022 Dec 7;19(24):16423. doi: 10.3390/ijerph192416423.
Young people and women seem to suffer more from social restrictions due to the COVID-19 pandemic than do others. Findings from pre-pandemic surveys identified students as a specific risk group for developing anxiety and depressive symptoms. Recent studies have indicated that students especially denoted a decrease in mental health during the pandemic. In a sample of = 1938 university students (67.6% female), we investigated protective factors that are associated with mental health (defined as the absence of any mental disorder) and more specifically, the absence of major depression during the pandemic despite social restrictions. Investigated protective factors were social support, sense of coherence and situational coping strategies. The results of the multiple logistic regression analyses revealed that male gender, high sense of coherence and specific coping strategies could be identified to be associated with mental health in general and the absence of major depression. Protective coping strategies that were related to mental health in general were lower substance use, lower behavioral disengagement, higher positive reframing and lower self-blame. Protective coping strategies that were associated with the absence of major depression specifically were higher use of instrumental support, lower substance use, lower behavioral disengagement, higher positive reframing, higher emotional support, lower self-blame and lower humor. Social support was related to the absence of major depression, but not to mental health in general. Higher age in university students was associated with better mental health, but not with the absence of major depression specifically. These findings indicate that sense of coherence and situational coping strategies can buffer the adverse effect of social restrictions on mental health and thus, can serve as important resilience factors. Moreover, they highlight the political relevance of promoting specific coping strategies to foster mental health in students encompassing adverse events and social restrictions.
年轻人和女性似乎比其他人更多地受到 COVID-19 大流行带来的社会限制的影响。大流行前的调查结果发现，学生是出现焦虑和抑郁症状的特定风险群体。最近的研究表明，学生在大流行期间的心理健康尤其下降。在一项对 1938 名大学生（67.6%为女性）的样本中，我们调查了与心理健康（定义为没有任何精神障碍）相关的保护因素，特别是在社会限制的情况下，与大流行期间没有重度抑郁症相关的保护因素。调查的保护因素包括社会支持、归属感和情境应对策略。多元逻辑回归分析的结果表明，男性、高归属感和特定应对策略与心理健康（包括没有重度抑郁症）相关。与心理健康相关的一般保护应对策略是低物质使用、低行为脱离、高积极重新评估和低自责。与没有重度抑郁症相关的具体保护应对策略是高使用工具性支持、低物质使用、低行为脱离、高积极重新评估、高情感支持、低自责和低幽默。社会支持与没有重度抑郁症相关，但与心理健康无关。大学生的年龄越高，心理健康状况越好，但与没有重度抑郁症无关。这些发现表明，归属感和情境应对策略可以缓冲社会限制对心理健康的不利影响，因此可以作为重要的适应因素。此外，它们强调了推广特定应对策略以促进学生在面临不利事件和社会限制时的心理健康的重要性。
