This study evaluates the impact of Covid-19 on the mental health of 8004 French students in the East part of France, which has been the first and hardest hit region by the Covid-19 pandemic. This is, to our knowledge, the largest study conducted on mental health of students during the pandemic. Our results show that students suffer from particularly high level of anxiety, depression and distress. A significant proportion of students might require psychological support, especially because the high distress scores suggest that the epidemic and confinement have favored the emergence of post-traumatic stress symptoms.

Childhood maltreatment (CM) is linked to impairments in various domains of social functioning. Here, we argue that it is critical to identify factors that underlie impaired social functioning as well as processes that mediate the beneficial health effects of positive relationships in individuals exposed to CM. Key research recommendations are presented, focusing on: (1) identifying attachment-related alterations in specific inter- and intrapersonal processes (e.g., regulation of closeness and distance) that underlie problems in broader domains of social functioning (e.g., lack of perceived social support) in individuals affected by CM; (2) identifying internal (e.g., current emotional state) and external situational factors (e.g., cultural factors, presence of close others) that modulate alterations in specific social processes; and (3) identifying mechanisms that explain the positive health effects of intact social functioning. Methodological recommendations include: (1) assessing social processes through interactive and (close to) real-life assessments inside and outside the laboratory; (2) adopting an interdisciplinary, lifespan perspective to assess social processes, using multi-method assessments; (3) establishing global research collaborations to account for cultural influences on social processes and enable replications across laboratories and countries. The proposed line of research will contribute to globally develop and refine interventions that prevent CM and further positive relationships, which – likely through buffering the effects of chronic stress and corresponding allostatic load – foster resilience and improve mental and physical health, thereby reducing personal suffering and the societal and economic costs of CM and its consequences. Interventions targeting euthymia and psychological well-being are promising therapeutic concepts in this context.

Communication through discussion and conversations is fundamental to human life; but when such discourse escapes the control of a teacher in the classroom, it becomes little more than chatter. This noise challenges teaching methods and the teaching stance with students. Yet, its impact on comprehension has rarely been studied. The aim of this literature review was to examine the research on the impact of classroom noise generated by chatter on students’ comprehension performance. We adopted the PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Metanalysis) guidelines to examine this literature. This review covered a 10-year period (papers written between 2009 and 2019), with nine experimental studies selected from the 2,954 papers screened. In 89% of these nine studies, there were significant comprehension differences on all tests, revealed when comprehension took place in a noisy environment due to chatter. This review indicated an essential need for a field survey to better understand the impact of chatter on comprehension. Other studies are recommended to highlight any correlation between measured chatter and student comprehension in a real classroom environment.

Background The COVID-19 pandemic had led to severe education disruption in many countries, including for medical students (MS). We aimed to evaluate MS mental health in France and search for a difference depending on studies’ years and clinical activities. Methods In a cross-sectional, survey-based study during the first confinement, 668 (8.35%) MS were compared to 7 336 non-medical students (non-MS) (91.65%). The PHQ-9 (≥10), the GAD-7 (≥8), and the IES-R (≥26) were collected to assess depressive, anxiety, and distress symptoms. Multivariable logistic regression analyses were performed. Results MS reported significant psychological distress (depressive symptoms: 38.17%, anxiety: 38.77% and distress: 36.83%). Compared to non-MS, they reported less significant depressive (OR, 0.80; 95% CI, 0.67-0.91; P = .007) and distress symptoms (OR, 0.73; 95% CI, 0.62-0.87; P < .001), after taking into account potential confounding variables including COVID-19 diagnosis. First year-MS reported higher rates of significant psychological distress than MS with clinical activities. Moreover, depressive symptoms’ rates were higher among MS with COVID-19 diagnosis (OR, 2.61; 95% CI, 1.21-6.13; P = .016). Conclusions Special attention should be offered to first year-MS and MS with COVID-19 diagnosis. Systematic companionship could be implemented for first year MS, and systematic psychiatric/psychological consultations for students with COVID-19 diagnosis.

Background: Studies have highlighted the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the mental health of university students. However, little is known about the psychological impact of successive lockdowns on this population. Objectives: To assess the prevalence of psychological distress in a student population during the first two lockdowns linked to the COVID-19 pandemic, and to stratify them by subgroup. Methods: We used a repeated cross-sectional study of a university student population in France during the first lockdown, the unlockdown, and the second lockdown. We measured rates of depression, anxiety, distress and suicidal ideation. A weighted prevalence was calculated with 95% confidence intervals. Predictors of symptom progression were measured using adjusted logistic regression. Results: 19,150 university students responded to the surveys. Our results suggest a significant decrease in the scores for depression (aOR = 0.64; CI%: 0.59–0.70), anxiety (aOR = 0.81; CI%: 0.74–0.88), and distress symptoms (aOR = 0.47; CI%: 0.43–0.51) between the first lockdown and the lifting of the lockdown. However, a significant increase in symptoms of depression (aOR = 1.53; CI%: 1.43-1.64), anxiety (aOR = 1.56; CI%: 1.45–1.67) and suicidal ideation (aOR = 1.59; CI%: 1.45–1.73) between the first and second lockdown is highlighted. The most impacted students are PhD students, they show a significant increase (aOR = 4.37; CI%: 1.41–13.54) in suicidal ideation. Conclusion: Mental health professionals will need to be vigilant about this population, both to provide care for psychological distress, but also to reduce the risk of PhD students dropping out. HIGHLIGHTS Successive lockdowns have a significant impact on the mental health of university students. PhD students have experienced the most significant deterioration in their mental health. The rate of suicidal ideation has increased significantly across the university student population.