Two years COVID-19 pandemic: Development of university students' mental health 2020-2022

Elisabeth Kohls; Lukas Guenthner; Sabrina Baldofski; Tanja Brock; Jan Schuhr; Christine Rummel-Kluge

doi:10.3389/fpsyt.2023.1122256

Two years COVID-19 pandemic: Development of university students' mental health 2020-2022

Front Psychiatry. 2023 Apr 6:14:1122256. doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2023.1122256. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Elisabeth Kohls^{1

2}, Lukas Guenthner¹, Sabrina Baldofski¹, Tanja Brock³, Jan Schuhr³, Christine Rummel-Kluge^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Medical Faculty, Leipzig University, Leipzig, Germany.
² Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University Leipzig Medical Center, Leipzig University, Leipzig, Germany.
³ Centre for Research, Further Education and Consulting, University of Applied Sciences for Social Work, Education and Nursing Dresden, Dresden, Germany.

Abstract

Background: The literature indicates a negative impact on the mental health of university students during the COVID-19 pandemic. It remains unclear if this negative impact persists even after lockdown measures are lifted. The current study therefore investigates the mental health status of students by drawing on two previous studies the present study seeks to investigate differences in the mental health status across three time points.

Methods: A cross-sectional, anonymous online survey among students of six universities was conducted between April and May 2022 (N = 5,510). Symptoms of depression, anxiety, hazardous alcohol use and eating disorders as well as social and emotional variables were assessed utilizing standardized instruments. Risk- and protective factors for severity of depressive and anxiety symptoms were investigated using multiple regression models. Differences in e.g., symptoms of depression across three time points were assessed with one-way analysis of variance.

Results: More than one third of students exhibited clinically relevant symptoms of depression (35.5%), hazardous alcohol use (33.0-35.5% depending on gender) or anxiety disorder (31.1%). Taken together, almost two out of three (61.4%) students reported clinically relevant symptoms in at least one of the aforementioned symptom patterns, while almost one fifth of students reported suicidal ideation or thoughts of self-harm (19.6%). Higher perceived stress and loneliness significantly predicted higher levels of depressive symptoms, while resilience and social support were identified as protective factors. Compared to 2020 and 2021, levels of depressive symptoms were significantly reduced in 2022, levels of hazardous alcohol consumption showed a small but significant increase from 2021 to 2022. Worryingly, prevalence of suicidal ideation was the highest yet, being significantly higher than in 2020 (14.5%) and 2021 (16.5%).

Conclusion: These results confirm previous results that the pandemic had and still has a negative impact on the mental health of university students. The present study broadens this view by the fact that some areas seem to recover quicker, while others seem to increase worryingly. Especially the persistent rise in suicidal ideation from 2020 to 2021 and to 2022, a constant reduction in reported social support and associated perceived loneliness is concerning. The claim for low-threshold and accessible mental health support for university students remains the same as in the beginning of the pandemic.

Keywords: COVID-19; alcohol consumption; depressive symptoms; mental health; symptoms of anxiety; university students.

Grants and funding

This work was funded by the Saxon Ministry for Science, Culture and Tourism (Sächsisches Staatsministerium für Wissenschaft, Kultur und Tourismus; SMWK) with tax funds on the basis of the budget approved by the Saxon State Parliament (grant No: 100586917). This manuscript was funded by the Open Access Publishing Fund of Leipzig University supported by the German Research Foundation within the program Open Access Publication Funding.