Wagner Karoline, Reinhardt Zoë, Negash Sarah, Weber Lena, Wienke Andreas, Mikolajczyk Rafael, Führer Amand
Institute for Medical Epidemiology, Biometrics and Informatics (IMEBI), Interdisciplinary Center for Health Sciences, Medical School of the Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, Halle (Saale), Germany.
Department of Education and Pedagogy, Faculty of Philosophy III, Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, Halle (Saale), Germany.
PLoS One. 2025 Jan 6;20(1):e0310378. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0310378. eCollection 2025.
Being a university student is a vulnerable period marked by transitions and uncertainties which can impair their physical and mental well-being as well as overall quality of life. The existing literature suggests that certain groups of students might be particularly affected by that. In addition, quality of life might have been further affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Therefore, this article investigated university students' quality of life and its determinants during the COVID-19 pandemic using an online survey among students of one German university. Quality of life was measured using SF-12's physical (PCS) and mental dimension (MCS). We conducted stratified descriptive analyses followed by regression analyses. 875 respondents completed the questionnaire, of whom 63.0% were female and 95.7% had a German nationality and 16.0% reported having a migration background. Mean age was 23 years. Medical (17.7%) and law students (15.8%) were the biggest groups, but all other faculties of the university were also covered. Concerning respondents' health-related quality of life, mean PCS was 51 (95%CI = (47-55)), while mean MCS was 36 (95%CI = (30-43). Students with non-German nationality (PCS: 49; MCS: 29) and students with migration background (PCS: 50; MCS: 31) showed particularly low quality of life in the mental dimension. In multivariable regression analyses, associations of the included determinants with PCS were rather weak. In contrast, there were strong associations between MCS and having a migration background with regression coefficient β = -26.1 (95%CI = (-38.5 - -13.7)) and studying Law with β = -17.7 (95%CI = (-28.2 - -7.2)). When comparing these findings with pre-pandemic studies, it seems that university students' quality of life during the pandemic was as low as it had been before while-as in pre-pandemic studies-certain groups of students generally fared worse than others did. This suggests that universities should actively promote students' health and should implement measures to specifically support particularly vulnerable students such as students with migration background or students of certain subjects.
作为一名大学生，处于一个充满转变和不确定性的脆弱时期，这些转变和不确定性会损害他们的身心健康以及整体生活质量。现有文献表明，某些学生群体可能会受到特别影响。此外，生活质量可能还受到了新冠疫情的进一步影响。因此，本文通过对一所德国大学的学生进行在线调查，研究了新冠疫情期间大学生的生活质量及其决定因素。生活质量使用SF-12的身体维度（PCS）和心理维度（MCS）进行测量。我们进行了分层描述性分析，随后进行了回归分析。875名受访者完成了问卷，其中63.0%为女性，95.7%拥有德国国籍，16.0%报告有移民背景。平均年龄为23岁。医学专业学生（17.7%）和法律专业学生（15.8%）是人数最多的群体，但该大学的所有其他院系也都有涵盖。关于受访者与健康相关的生活质量，PCS平均分为51（95%置信区间=（47-55）），而MCS平均分为36（95%置信区间=（30-43））。非德国国籍的学生（PCS：49；MCS：29）和有移民背景的学生（PCS：50；MCS：31）在心理维度上的生活质量尤其低。在多变量回归分析中，所纳入的决定因素与PCS之间的关联相当微弱。相比之下，MCS与有移民背景之间存在强烈关联，回归系数β=-26.1（95%置信区间=（-38.5--13.7）），与学习法律专业之间也存在强烈关联，β=-17.7（95%置信区间=（-28.2--7.2））。将这些研究结果与疫情前的研究进行比较时，似乎疫情期间大学生的生活质量与之前一样低，而且——与疫情前的研究一样——某些学生群体总体上比其他学生过得更差。这表明大学应该积极促进学生的健康，并应采取措施专门支持特别脆弱的学生，如有移民背景的学生或某些学科的学生。
