Background: As the majority of studies examining mental health during the pandemic
are cross-sectional, little is known about the changes in mental health during the
pandemic, especially in university students. Most studies indicate a worsening of mental
health conditions. This study aimed to evaluate the mental health status of German
university students during the third wave of the pandemic in 2021 and to compare the
results to a sample of a congruent cross-sectional study from 2020.
Methods: Two cross-sectional and anonymous online surveys among university
students were conducted (first survey: July-August 2020, N = 3,382; second survey:
March-April 2021, N = 5,642). Mental health status was assessed with standardized
measures (depressive symptoms, alcohol and drug consumption, and eating disorder
symptoms), and social and emotional aspects of the COVID-19 pandemic were
assessed. In addition to descriptive statistics and group comparisons of the two survey
samples from 2020 and 2021, respectively, risk and protective factors related to mental
health were analyzed.
Results: There were significant differences in severities of depressive symptoms and
alcohol and drug consumption between the two online surveys from 2020 and 2021.
Findings suggest an increase in the severity of depressive symptoms as well as alcohol
and drug consumption. Significantly more respondents reported suicidal ideation in the
survey from 2021. Lower self-efficacy, less social support and lower resilience as well
as higher perceived stress and more loneliness were reported by the participants of
the survey from 2021 compared to 2020. Regarding factors predicting mental health
symptoms, being female was a positive predictor for hazardous alcohol use and anorexia
nervosa in comparison to men. Further, younger age, being diverse, higher perceived
stress and loneliness were positive predictors for all mental health outcomes.
Conclusion: This study reveals an increase in severities of depressive symptoms,
including suicidal ideation, drug and alcohol consumption among students. Being
diverse, younger age, higher perceived stress and loneliness were mutual risk factors
for higher depressive and eating disorder symptoms as well as alcohol consumption.
Universities and health care policy should recognize and address mental health issues of
young adults during ongoing times of crisis and invest in easy-to-access interventions.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:DRESDEN/oai:qucosa:de:qucosa:84492 |
| Date | 31 March 2023 |
| Creators | Dogan-Sander, Ezgi, Kohls, Elisabeth, Baldofski, Sabrina, Rummel-Kluge, Christine |
| Publisher | Frontiers Research Foundation |
| Source Sets | Hochschulschriftenserver (HSSS) der SLUB Dresden |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion, doc-type:article, info:eu-repo/semantics/article, doc-type:Text |
| Rights | info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
| Relation | 1664-0640, 790974 |
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