Prospective examination of mental health in university students during the COVID-19 pandemic

Jia, Ru; Knight, Holly; Ayling, Kieran; Coupland, Carol; Corner, Jessica; Denning, Chris; Ball, Jonathan; Bolton, Kirsty; Morling, Joanne R; Figueredo, Grazziela; Morris, David Ed; Tighe, Patrick; Villalon, Armando; Blake, Holly; Vedhara, Kavita

Prospective examination of mental health in university students during the COVID-19 pandemic

Jia, Ru; Knight, Holly; Ayling, Kieran; Coupland, Carol; Corner, Jessica; Denning, Chris; Ball, Jonathan; Bolton, Kirsty; Morling, Joanne R; Figueredo, Grazziela; Morris, David Ed; Tighe, Patrick; Villalon, Armando; Blake, Holly; Vedhara, Kavita

Authors

Ru Jia

HOLLY KNIGHT HOLLY.KNIGHT@NOTTINGHAM.AC.UK
Senior Research Fellow

KIERAN AYLING Kieran.Ayling@nottingham.ac.uk
Senior Research Fellow

CAROL COUPLAND carol.coupland@nottingham.ac.uk
Professor of Medical Statistics

Jessica Corner

CHRIS DENNING chris.denning@nottingham.ac.uk
Professor of Stem Cell Biology

JONATHAN BALL jonathan.ball@nottingham.ac.uk
Professor of Molecular Virology

KIRSTY BOLTON Kirsty.Bolton@nottingham.ac.uk
Assistant Professor

JOANNE MORLING JOANNE.MORLING@NOTTINGHAM.AC.UK
Clinical Associate Professor

Grazziela Figueredo

David Ed Morris

PATRICK TIGHE paddy.tighe@nottingham.ac.uk
Professor of Molecular Immunology

Armando Villalon

HOLLY BLAKE holly.blake@nottingham.ac.uk
Professor of Behavioural Medicine

Kavita Vedhara

Abstract

Background The impact of changing social restrictions on the mental health of students during the COVID-19 pandemic warrants exploration.

Aims To prospectively examine changes to university students’ mental health during the pandemic.

Methods Students completed repeated online surveys at three time points (October 2020 (baseline), February 2021, March 2021) to explore relationships between demographic and psychological factors (loneliness and positive mood) and mental health outcomes (depression, anxiety, and stress).

Results A total of 893 students participated. Depression and anxiety levels were higher at all timepoints than pre-pandemic normative data (p<.001). Scores on all mental health measures were highest in February, with depression and anxiety remaining significantly higher in March than baseline. Female students and those with previous mental health disorders were at greatest risk of poor mental health outcomes. Lower positive mood and greater loneliness at baseline were associated with greater depression and anxiety at follow-ups. Baseline positive mood predicted improvement of depression and anxiety at follow-ups.

Conclusion Depression and anxiety were significantly higher than pre-pandemic norms, with female students and those with previous mental health difficulties being at greatest risk. Given these elevated rates, universities should ensure adequate support is available to meet potentially increased demand for services.

Citation

Jia, R., Knight, H., Ayling, K., Coupland, C., Corner, J., Denning, C., …Vedhara, K. Prospective examination of mental health in university students during the COVID-19 pandemic

Deposit Date	Nov 17, 2022
Publicly Available Date	Nov 30, 2022
Public URL	https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/7351050
Publisher URL	https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.07.29.21261196v1