Sleep Quality, Insomnia Symptoms, and Depressive Symptomatology among Italian University Students before and during the Covid-19 Lockdown

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic led world authorities to adopt extraordinary measures to counteract the spread of the virus. The Italian government established a national lockdown from 9 March to 3 May 2020, forcing people in their homes and imposing social distancing. During the pandemic emergency, university students emerged as a vulnerable category. Indeed, higher rates of sleep problems and mental disorders were reported in this population. However, these outcomes were derived from cross-sectional investigations adopting retrospective assessments. Retrospective evaluations suffer from different biases, putatively leading to erroneous outcomes. To overcome this limitation, we adopted a between-subject approach comparing a sample of 240 Italian undergraduate university students assessed in 2016 (mean age ± standard deviation, 20.39 ± 1.42, range 18–25; 80.42% females), with an age/gender-matched sample of university students assessed during the third week of lockdown in Spring 2020. We evaluated sleep quality, insomnia symptoms, and depressive symptomatology using validated questionnaires. We found worse sleep quality, a delayed bedtime, and more severe insomnia and depression symptoms in the students sampled under COVID-19 restrictive measures. We suggest paying special attention to this at-risk population during the current pandemic emergency and applying preventive and supportive interventions to limit the exacerbation of sleep and psychological problems.

The Psychological Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Postsecondary Students: An Analysis of Self-Determination

“…(5) identify the references, antecedents, and consequences of the concept, if possible; (6) identify concepts related to the concept of interest; (7) generate a model case of the concept, if applicable [29] (p. 333). This Rogerian evolutionary approach to concept analysis is context dependent, which allows for evolution of the concept through various applications.…”

“…Although this pandemic has had catastrophic effects on the physical health of millions of individuals, the psychological impact of the virus has also proven detrimental [ 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 ]. The full psychological impact of the COVID-19 pandemic continues to be investigated; however, research has shown that postsecondary students are a population that is highly susceptible to psychological distress [ 3 , 7 , 8 , 9 ]. Young adults between 18 and 24 years of age, the most common age group for postsecondary students, reported the highest levels of pandemic-related psychological distress when compared to other age groups, with a quarter of them reporting suicidal thoughts [ 10 , 11 ].…”

“…Intensified by fear of the virus, such isolation can lead to psychological distress due to chronic loneliness and boredom [ 13 ]. Reported symptoms of COVID-19 related to psychological distress in postsecondary students include anxiety, stress, depression, sleep disturbance, uncertainty, and suicidal ideation [ 7 , 8 , 14 , 15 ]. When an individual experiences these conditions, it is difficult to satisfy basic psychological needs.…”

The Moderating Role of Lifestyle on Insomnia in Home Quarantine College Students During the COVID-19 Epidemic

“…In the wake of the COVID-19 outbreak, studies have reported rates of insomnia ranging from 7.3 to 37.6% (43)(44)(45)(46)(47), greater than the pre-pandemic worldwide insomnia prevalence, estimated before the pandemic between 3.9 and 22% (48). An Italian study that compared insomnia symptoms among 240 college students with both gender and age controlled, before and after the pandemic, found that college students experienced more severe insomnia symptoms during the quarantine period than before the pandemic (49). In China, in order to combat the pandemic more effectively, home quarantine was implemented, which reduced the influence from the outside world.…”

41 st International Conference on Organizational Science Development

“…Kljub temu, da so anketirani poročali o bolj pogostem spanju v primerjavi s časom pred epidemijo Covid-19, so tisti, ki so odgovorili na vsa vprašanja indeksa ISI, v povprečju zbrali 9,74 točk (standardni odklon 6,58), kar je primerljivo s študijo izvedeno na vzorcu 240 italijanskih študentov (M ± SD: 8.34 ± 4.93) (Viselli et al, 2021). Rezultati pridobljeni na vzorcu 240 italijanskih študentov so pokazali njihovo slabšo kakovost spanja, odlaganje spanja in hujše simptome nespečnosti v času omejitev povezanih s širjenjem bolezni Covid-19 (Viselli et al, 2021). Anketirani, ki so dosegli prag klinične stopnje nespečnosti potrebujejo dodatno poglobljeno klinično oceno za potrditev obstoja klinične stopnje težav z nespečnostjo.…”