Depressive symptoms in higher education students during the COVID-19 pandemic: the role of containment measures.
Eur J Public Health
; 32(3): 481-487, 2022 06 01.
Article
en En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-35289850
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND:
Students are a vulnerable group for the indirect impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly their mental health. This paper examined the cross-national variation in students' depressive symptoms and whether this can be related to the various protective measures implemented in response to the initial stage of the COVID-19 outbreak.METHODS:
Student data stem from the COVID-19 International Student Well-being Study, covering 26 countries during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. Country-level data on government responses to the COVID-19 pandemic were retrieved from the Oxford COVID-19 Tracker. Multilevel analyses were performed to estimate the impact of the containment and economic support measures on students' depressive symptoms (n = 78 312).RESULTS:
School and workplace closures, and stay-at-home restrictions were positively related to students' depressive symptoms during the COVID-19 pandemic, while none of the economic support measures significantly related to depressive symptoms. Countries' scores on the index of these containment measures explained 1.5% of the cross-national variation in students' depressive symptoms (5.3%). This containment index's effect was stable, even when controlling for the economic support index, students' characteristics, and countries' epidemiological context and economic conditions.CONCLUSIONS:
Our findings raise concerns about the potential adverse effects of existing containment measures (especially the closure of schools and workplaces and stay-at-home restrictions) on students' mental health.
Texto completo:
1
Colección:
01-internacional
Base de datos:
MEDLINE
Asunto principal:
COVID-19
Tipo de estudio:
Diagnostic_studies
Límite:
Humans
Idioma:
En
Revista:
Eur J Public Health
Asunto de la revista:
EPIDEMIOLOGIA
/
SAUDE PUBLICA
Año:
2022
Tipo del documento:
Article
País de afiliación:
Bélgica