Starting University at the Time of COVID-19: Psychoemotional Adjustment of a Group of Italian Students

Abstract

The transition from school to university typically occurs during emerging adulthood; this coming together of multiple challenging development tasks at the same time may be stressful for some students. The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, and above all the health measures implemented to deal with it, may have been an additional factor contributing to the difficult adaptation of first-year students to academic life. This study evaluated the role played by emotional processing and differentiation of self for psychological well-being in a sample of 218 Italian students (78.4% women) who began their 1st year of college during the pandemic. The results showed that higher levels of differentiation of self, combined with fewer signs of unprocessed emotions, predicted lower psychological distress. The data support the importance of these variables as protective factors in promoting psychological well-being along with the transition to adulthood and adaptation to new life challenges. These findings draw attention to the relevance of support services aimed at university students and of emerging adults in general in considering and promoting the role of self-differentiation and the style of emotional processing for addressing well-being and mental health during the transition to adult life.

Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Use of Antidepressants by Young Adults in the ASL TO4 Regione Piemonte (Italy)

“…Interestingly, in line with previously cited studies on the Italian population [18][19][20][21][22][23], we found no changes in AD use comparable to young adults in other age groups, supporting the hypothesis that this subgroup of individuals had needed medication to treat their psychological distress during the lockdown periods and/or after the reopening phase. This evidence supports the association between younger age and lower levels of mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic [24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36]. We can also speculate that the increase in the use of ADs by young adults in the ASL TO4 Regione Piemonte may be related to prescriptions for the treatment of post-COVID-19 depression.…”

“…In this respect, the association between younger age and lower levels of mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic has been documented. In particular, young adults have been found to experience high rates of loneliness, anxious and depressive symptoms, stress, and sleep disturbances [24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36]. Whether these changes were associated with a parallel change in AD consumption needs to be better understood.…”

Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on Well-Being, Social Relationships and Academic Performance in a Sample of University Freshmen: A Propensity Score Match Evaluation Pre- and Post-Pandemic

“…Each response corresponds to a score, ranging from 0 to 6, with the total score summation ranging from 0 to 39 for each substance. Total scores between 0 and 3 (0-10 for alcohol) are considered "low risk" (occasional or non-harmful use), 4 and 26 (11)(12)(13)(14)(15)(16)(17)(18)(19)(20)(21)(22)(23)(24)(25)(26) for alcohol) indicate "moderate risk" (more regular use or harmful/hazardous use), and scores higher than 26 indicate "high risk" (frequent high-risk use or suggestive of dependence). The ability of the ASSIST to classify patients based on degree of drug use has been extensively validated [29,30].…”

“…The published studies are almost always on university students and not on freshmen and have always been conducted during the health emergency, before the declaration of the end of the state of emergency issued by the Italian government [7,17]. To our knowledge, there is only one Italian study on freshmen that evaluated the role played by emotional processing and differentiation of self for psychological well-being during the pandemic, but this study was also conducted during the health emergency and therefore did not assess the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on freshmen [18].…”

Depression and academic engagement among college students: the role of sense of security and psychological impact of COVID-19

“…These qualities may positively contribute to mental health (32). However, during the pandemic, students' academic engagement was severely affected (33). Students faced the challenges of online, home-based, and isolated learning due to substantial changes in their learning environments (34).…”