The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on stress, mental health and coping behavior in German University students – a longitudinal study before and after the onset of the pandemic

Abstract

Background The COVID-19 pandemic has led to massive restrictions in public and private lives, including a shut-down of face-to-face teaching at universities in Germany. We aimed to examine the impact of these changes on perceived stress, mental health and (study-)related health behavior of students in a longitudinal study. Methods For two timepoints – the year before the COVID-19 pandemic (2019, n = 1377) and the year during the COVID-19 pandemic (2020, n = 1867) – we surveyed students of all faculties at one German university for perceptions and preventive behavior regarding the COVID-19 pandemic using standard instruments for stress, anxiety, depression, and behavior and experience patterns. Results About 90% of students (n = 1633) in 2020 did not have a known contact infected with SARS-CoV-2, while 180 (9.8%) did have one. Only 10 respondents (0.5%) reported an infection with SARS-CoV-2. Wearing masks and washing hands more often were practiced by ≥80% of students. Taking more care about cleanliness (51.8%) and using disinfectants (39.2%) were practiced much less. A higher percentage of female compared with male students and medical/health science students compared with science, technology, engineering, and mathematics students engaged more frequently in specific or nonspecific preventive measures. More than three quarters (77.1%) of all students rated their general health as (very) good. There were no significant differences in general health, stress, and depression between 2019 and 2020 in the students who responded at both timepoints. The distribution of behavior and experience patterns for this group showed a slight but significant difference from 2019 to 2020, namely decreasing proportions of students with a healthy pattern and a risk pattern for overexertion. Students with different behavior and experience patterns showed marked differences in perceptions and reaction to the COVID-19 pandemic as well as psychosocial stress and symptoms, with higher scores for mental health symptoms and lower scores in preventive behavior regarding risk patterns. Conclusion Despite massive alterations to students’ lives in 2020, there were only moderate consequences for mental health compared with 2019 in the total student group of this German university. However, identifying students at risk would offer opportunities to foster mental health in relevant subgroups.

Mental Health, Partnerships, and Sexual Behavior of German Students After the Third Wave During the Corona Pandemic

“…Descriptive analysis of the data shows that students are generally moderately satis ed with their lives, although 38.5% show rather poor general health. This stands in contrast to the longitudinal study of Voltmer et al [13] reporting that 77% of the students rated their health as (very) good in June 2020. During corona, about one in ten students suffered severe nancial losses, and both the impairment and the burden can be considered severe.…”

“…Accordingly, Kohls et al [5] showed that in July and August 2020 during the pandemic 37% of the students (n = 3,382) were affected by depressive symptoms according to the PHQ-9 showing an increase compared to numbers before the pandemic. The German longitudinal study of Voltmer et al [13], however, found no signi cant differences in general health, stress, as well as depression symptoms and only a minor elevation of anxiety between 2019 and 2020 (June) in their student sample.…”

Impact of COVID-19 on the Mental Health of Medical Students in Portugal

“…Females tend to be more predisposed to express their feelings and are more likely to experience different social expectations, pressures, and gender equalityrelated positions [23]. However, other studies did not confirm this trend [13,14,16,26].…”

“…In fact, various studies have consistently showed an increase in anxiety and stress symptoms associated with the COVID-19 pandemic among medical students [12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24] as well an increase in depressive symptom [15,17,21,22,24,25]. The factors attributable to the pandemic explaining anxiety and depression may be due to being afraid of getting the infection and the risk of the development of severe illness and complications [26]. On the other hand, some studies showed that living in urban areas, living with parents, having economic stability, having social support and being younger appeared to be protective factors for depressive symptoms [13,16,24].…”

“…Nevertheless, some research did not demonstrate this correlation [12][13][14]. Also, some studies refer that the main fears of students related with COVID-19 pandemic involve the negative impact on their studies and academic delays [12,16,18], economic outcomes, effects on daily life [16], fear of getting infected or transmitting the disease to family members [18,32], social distancing, and lockdown [26].…”