Effects of COVID-19 lockdown on university students’ anxiety disorder in Italy

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the vulnerability of specific population sections, with regards to economic and work conditions, mental and physical well-being, and context-based factors, emphasizing the need for timely policy measures aimed at counteracting the Italian economic framework’s fragility—which poorly adapts to unexpected circumstances. Identifying the most vulnerable groups is, therefore, essential with a view to carrying out targeted measures. Concerning University, the economic downturn caused by COVID-19 could likely result in a decrease in enrollments to both the first and further years of study, with significant consequences on the future of students and the system as a whole. The class of students is of great interest, as it is made up of individuals differing from each other in many ways. Our investigation is aimed at observing anxiety levels filtering the perception of one’s anxiety state in a highly stressful time such as the pandemic from the usual anxiety levels. This evaluation allows us to evaluate the similarity of individual behaviors during the lockdown period with those from the previous period.

Gender Differences in COVID-19 Lockdown Impact on Mental Health of Undergraduate Students

“…The result that females compared with males, among undergraduate students, worsened their mental health status more, is in line with current national and international COVID-19 literature that estimates a greater risk in females than males in developing depression, anxiety, paranoid ideations, posttraumatic stress symptoms, sleep disorders, and a worsening in the interpersonal sensitivity dimension (13,(23)(24)(25)(26).…”

Psychological Counseling Service “Together” at University of Genoa: Students’ Psychological Profile in Pre and Post Pandemic

“…These results corroborate the pattern of relationships among motivational aspects found in the aforementioned studies. Moreover, in line with the literature, they confirm the negative impact of the COVID-19 crisis on the well-being of students who more frequently reported higher levels of anxiety (e.g., Busetta et al, 2021 ). Together these findings suggest that an intervention aimed to promote internal causal attributions and reduce dysfunctional beliefs by modulating anxiety and resilience may effectively support students.…”

COVID-19-Associated Mental Health Impact on Menstrual Function Aspects: Dysmenorrhea and Premenstrual Syndrome, and Genitourinary Tract Health: A Cross Sectional Study among Jordanian Medical Students

“…A second study conducted a month later in Malaysia during the COVID-19-related online teaching found that more than half of university students showed moderate to severe anxiety [16]. Busetta et al also investigated the anxiety levels among Italian university students during the period of COVID-19-related lockdown [17]. The study showed that high anxiety levels were reported by >50% of the university students, and >50% of the students started to experience anxiety, while >60% of the students who suffered from anxiety before the pandemic showed aggravated anxiety symptoms during the pandemic [17].…”

“…Moreover, Woon et al reported that after the movement control order was lifted in Malaysia, and some strict social activities were resumed, 36.4%, 36.7%, and 42.4% of the university students experienced mild to extremely severe levels of depression, anxiety and stress, respectively [19]. The previous studies evaluating the impact of COVID-19 on the mental health of university students revealed that several factors, such as infected friends or relatives, quarantine, lockdown, financial problems, wearing masks, checking temperature routinely, female gender, online learn-ing, and ambiguity of the future, are associated with a higher risk for developing mental disorders [15][16][17][18][19].…”