Ching Brian C F, Hahn Jane S, Corrie Sarah, Thomas Rhiannon, Alba Anca
Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King's College London, UK.
Division of Psychiatry, University College London, UK.
BJPsych Open. 2025 Mar 11;11(2):e46. doi: 10.1192/bjo.2024.868.
There is an urgent need to understand explanatory factors of poor mental health before (pre-) and during (peri-) the COVID-19 pandemic in university students, especially those from underrepresented and minority groups.
To examine potential differences and explanatory factors for psychological distress, clinical risk and impact of problems on academic outcomes pre- and peri-pandemic in university students.
A repeated cross-sectional design was used with routine data between August 2018 and July 2022 at the registration stage from a student counselling and mental health service at a UK university. Wilcoxon signed-rank tests were used to examine pre- and peri-pandemic differences in outcomes. Unadjusted and adjusted linear regression models were conducted to assess potential explanatory factors for poor outcomes.
A total of 9517 university students had completed sociodemographic and outcome data and were included in analysis. Psychological distress and impact of problems on academic outcomes were not significantly different between pre- and peri-pandemic groups. Clinical risk was significantly higher in the pre-pandemic than peri-pandemic group. Potential explanatory factors for poorer outcomes included being younger, female or non-binary/genderqueer, sexual minority, from a minority ethnic group, having home fee status and having a disability registration.
Poor student mental health profiles and related explanatory factors may not have changed drastically between pre- and peri-pandemic. Longitudinal methods and intersectional approaches should be used in future research. Further understanding of how universities and student mental health services can most efficiently and effectively support the mental health of university students is crucially warranted.
迫切需要了解大学生在2019冠状病毒病（COVID-19）大流行之前（疫情前）和期间（疫情期间）心理健康状况不佳的解释因素，尤其是那些代表性不足的少数群体。
研究大学生在疫情前和疫情期间心理困扰、临床风险以及问题对学业成绩影响的潜在差异和解释因素。
采用重复横断面设计，使用英国一所大学学生咨询与心理健康服务机构在2018年8月至2022年7月注册阶段的常规数据。采用Wilcoxon符号秩检验来检验疫情前和疫情期间结果的差异。进行未调整和调整后的线性回归模型，以评估不良结果的潜在解释因素。
共有9517名大学生完成了社会人口统计学和结果数据，并纳入分析。疫情前和疫情期间两组在心理困扰以及问题对学业成绩的影响方面无显著差异。疫情前组的临床风险显著高于疫情期间组。不良结果的潜在解释因素包括年龄较小、女性或非二元性别/酷儿性别、性少数群体、少数族裔、家庭经济状况以及持有残疾登记。
大学生心理健康状况不佳及其相关解释因素在疫情前和疫情期间可能没有发生巨大变化。未来研究应采用纵向研究方法和交叉性方法。进一步了解大学和学生心理健康服务机构如何能够最有效且高效地支持大学生的心理健康至关重要。
