Chinese College Students' Stress and Anxiety Levels Under COVID-19

Abstract

The outbreak of COVID-19 at the end of 2019 has had a significant impact on people. While attention is paid to the immense physical harm it has caused, the psychological impact should not be underestimated. The main purpose of this study was to explore the stress, anxiety, and depression levels of different groups of college students during the COVID-19 pandemic. We conducted an online questionnaire survey of college students by using the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS-10), the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 items (PHQ-9), and the Self-rating Anxiety Scale (SAS). A total of 1,586 questionnaires were collected and analyzed in R language. The results showed that students with moderate to severe stress (PSS-10 ≥ 14) accounted for 67.50%; the detection rate of depression (PHQ-9 ≥ 5) reached 43.77%; and 20.60% of students had anxiety (SAS standard score ≥ 50). There were significant differences in PSS-10/SAS among different genders, majors, whether returning to school or not, and those with different psychological experiences (negative or positive, P < 0.05). It is notable that the median of female, medical student, non-resumption of schooling, and negative experience was higher than that of positive experience (P < 0.05). The results of principal component analysis showed that there were significant differences in PHQ-9, PSS-10, and SAS between the resumption of schooling group and the non-resumption group. Therefore, it is inferred that the stress and anxiety level of college students during the COVID-19 pandemic is generally high, especially for those who have not yet resumed school. Long-term negative emotions can easily lead to serious mental diseases such as cognitive impairment. Education departments should attach great importance to the mental health of college students, and it is necessary to provide precise psychological interventions for groups experiencing greater pressure levels and marked anxiety and depression.

The Mental Health Status and Associated Factors Among Medical Students Engaged in Online Learning at Home During the Pandemic: A Cross-Sectional Study From China

“…In the present study, the prevalence of depression, anxiety, and stress symptoms among medical students during online learning were 31.9, 32.9, and 14.6%, respectively, which was significantly higher than the prevalence of students during the non-epidemic period in China ( 35 , 36 ). Our finding is different from a previous study which showed the prevalence of depression and anxiety was 43.77 and 20.60%, respectively, during the COVID-19 pandemic ( 37 ). In that study, Patient Health Questionnaire-9 items (PHQ-9) and Self-Rating Anxiety Scale (SAS) which is different from our study were used to measure the mental health of college students, and only three-fifths (59.52%) were medical majors.…”

Mental Health among Higher Education Students during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Cross-Sectional Survey from Lithuania

“…However, international data provide a significantly lower prevalence rates of anxiety among students. For example, a meta-analysis indicates the rate of anxiety among college students is 29% during the pandemic [ 81 ]; the rates of anxiety are also lower in individual studies [ 82 , 83 , 84 , 85 ]. We believe that such discrepancies between results from our study and current data may be explained by different instruments used to screen for students’ symptoms of anxiety.…”

The Influence of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Stress Levels and Occurrence of Stomatoghnatic System Disorders (SSDs) among Physiotherapy Students in Poland

“…This study is a quantitative analysis examining the impact of the psychological effects of the pandemic on the occurrence of stress and stomatognathic system disorders among students of physiotherapy. The results of this research may help in preparing appropriate future intervention programs and effective prevention strategies in crisis situations at universities [32,[35][36][37][38].…”