A 2-year mental health follow-up study subsequent to COVID-19.

The COVID-19 pandemic has profoundly impacted the mental health and education of college students. This study examined the interrelationships among loneliness, resilience, and COVID-19 fear among college students in Northern Michigan, a region of the United States severely affected by the pandemic. Data were collected from two student cohorts (n = 258), with half surveyed in early 2022 and the other half in mid-2022, two years after pandemic's onset. The Omicron wave peaked in Michigan in January 2022, but by June 2022, cases, hospitalizations, and deaths had significantly declined. Students completed measures of loneliness, resilience, learning difficulty, and psychological symptoms. Key findings are: 1) Participants' fear, loneliness, and academic difficulty decreased over time, reflecting fluctuations in acute situational and emotional states; 2) Unexpectedly, resilience declined from early to mid-2022, suggesting its diminishing protective role under prolonged, pandemic-induced stress; 3) Despite improvements, students continued reporting high academic difficulties. Loneliness, heightened fear, and dampened happiness together contributed to greater academic difficulties; 4) Pre-existing sex differences equalized two years after the pandemic's onset. While modest improvements were noted, enduring academic and mental health impacts signal a need for continued support.

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on college students in USA: Two years later.

Coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19) has posed an unprecedented public health challenge for most countries, and the repeated outbreaks of this disease have created a largest disruption of education systems. The intent of this work was to examine the intersection of COVID-19 fear and mental health consequences among college students in Northern Michigan, a region of the U.S. severely affected by the pandemic. This study was conducted from January 17 to February 25, 2022, two years later since the outbreak of the pandemic, and 151 college students (female, 76) were involved. Participants' potential psychological symptoms, anxiety, happiness, learning difficulty, and demographic information were surveyed. We have three main findings. First, 60.3% of students had tested positive for COVID-19, and more female than male students were affected (female, 69.7%; male, 50.7%). Second, there was a high prevalence of mental problems among college students, with 95.7% of the sample experiencing moderate or severe mood disorders. Third, respondents' education was severely affected by the pandemic, averaging a score of 7.6 on a scale of 10 when asked how much their learning quality was affected. They showed increased fear, stress, and decreased happiness, and these were associated with their learning quality change. Given the impact would be far-reaching, not only college students' mental health but also their learning difficulties should be monitored during the pandemic. These findings are alarming and timely, and their implications are discussed.