Loneliness, Belonging, and Mental Health in Australian University Students Pre- and Post-COVID-19

Abstract

The move to online learning during COVID-19 deprived first-year students of friendships and other sources of social support that could buffer against stress during their transition to university. These effects may have been worse for international students than domestic students as many were subjected to travel restrictions or quarantine in addition to the usual stressors. This study examined the impact of COVID-19 on social connectedness and mental health of first-year students enrolled in a metropolitan university in Australia. The study involved 1239 students (30.4% international) and used a 3 (cohorts: 2019, 2020, 2021) × 2 (enrolment status: domestic and international) between-group design. Results showed that both loneliness and university belonging were significantly worse during the first year of COVID-19 compared to the year before or after. Contrary to expectation, domestic students were lonelier than international students across all cohorts. Multiple-group memberships did not change. As predicted, loneliness was moderately to highly correlated with the number of stressors, psychological distress, and (lower) well-being, whereas university belonging and multiple-group memberships were related to positive mental health outcomes. These findings highlight the need for initiatives that promote student connectedness and mental health as the university sector recovers from COVID-19.

Retrospective Self-Reports of How Adolescent Substance Use Changed with the COVID-19 Pandemic

“…Having three or more vehicles may be an indicator of higher financial status, but we were not able to separate those families that had three cars from those with two, so future research that plans to collect this information could consider providing response options beyond two cars. In addition, we did not have information on other variables that may be particularly important during the COVID-19 pandemic, such as frequency of social contact, loneliness, and family strain [ 7 , 23 , 24 ], which may affect substance use. Future research that collects more detailed data could provide important information for understanding the psychological and social context underlying substance use in adolescents.…”

Expanding the social cure: a mixed-methods approach exploring the role of online group dance as support for young people (aged 16-24) living with anxiety.

“…During the COVID-19 pandemic, where social interactions were severely affected, this had major effects on the mental health and loneliness of young people (Dingle et al, 2022), with research suggesting long-lasting impacts (Chadi et al, 2022). For example, compared to other groups, higher loneliness was found in young people and individuals with existing mental health conditions (Bu et al, 2020b(Bu et al, , 2020aVarga et al, 2021), and young people were more likely to experience high anxiety and depression than other age groups during this time .…”

Data from four consecutive cohorts of students in Australia (2019–2022) show the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on domestic and international university students’ mental health

“…Virtual classes (many of which were pre-recorded and viewed in students’ own time) offered fewer opportunities for the friendly and informal discussions that may occur when students interact in and between classes. Students reported an increase in loneliness and a decrease in sense of belonging at university ( Dingle et al, 2022 ). Most university educators were not adequately trained in effective online teaching methods and were also working from home without the level of technological support required (e.g.…”