Examining enduring effects of COVID-19 on college students' internalizing and externalizing problems: A four-year longitudinal analysis

Abstract

The current study sets out to examine the extent to which college students’ trajectories of mental health symptoms (depression, social anxiety, impulsivity, and aggression) and problematic alcohol use changed as the COVID-19 pandemic progressed; we hypothesize increases in all levels and slopes of all outcomes over time following the pandemic’s onset. We also hypothesize greater mental health symptoms and problematic alcohol use (i.e., higher levels of and increases in outcomes over time) following COVID-19 among individuals who experienced higher levels of loneliness, financial strain, and health anxiety at the time of the pandemic’s onset.