Symptoms of stress, anxiety, and depression in university students during the COVID-19 pandemic

Vieira-Santos, Joene; Paiva, Wanderson Feldkircher; Mendes-Pacheco, Cynthia Caroline

doi:10.1590/1982-0275202340e200245

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Brasil

Estudos de Psicologia (Campinas)

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Sumário

RESEARCH REPORT - School and Educational Psychology • Estud. psicol. 40 • 2023 • https://doi.org/10.1590/1982-0275202340e200245 copy

Symptoms of stress, anxiety, and depression in university students during the COVID-19 pandemic

Sintomas de estresse, ansiedade e depressão em estudantes universitários durante a pandemia de COVID-19

Authorship SCIMAGO INSTITUTIONS RANKINGS

Abstract

Objective

Investigate how the exposure to the disease and changes in work conditions influenced the perception of stress, anxiety, and depression levels.

Method

405 students from Higher Education Institutions in Brazil answered an online form composed of a sociodemographic and exposure to COVID-19 questionnaire and stress, anxiety, and depression scales.

Results

It was observed that the prevalence of stress, anxiety, and depression among the participants was 56.8%, 41.7%, and 37.0%, respectively. Furthermore, stress assumed a role as a mediator of levels of anxiety and depression.

Conclusion

The data from this study can support the development of institutional actions that help students to better handle the difficulties arising from the pandemic and/or other sources of stressors that impact academic life.

Keywords
Coronavirus infections; Mental health; Students; Universities

Variables			n	Stress		Anxiety		Depression
Variables			n	M (SD)	t / F	M (SD)	t / F	M (SD)	t / F
Course area
	Biological Sciences		85	9.1 (3.2)	2.2	9.4 (5.4)	4.1 ^a a p < 0.05;	11.3 (6.1)	6.7 ^b b p < 0.01.
	Exact Sciences		28	7.9 (3.3)		6.9 (5.4)		7.5 (4.8)
	Humanities Sciences		292	9.2 (3.2)		10.1 (5.9)		12.2 (6.9)
Time of Course
	Beginning		95	9.0 (3.4)	0.2	9.9 (6.4)	0.1	11.1 (7.2)	0.7
	Mid-course		177	9.0 (3.2)		9.7 (5.7)		11.7 (6.4)
	End		132	9.2 (3.2)		9.6 (5.6)		12.2 (6.8)
Exposure to COVID-19
	Knows people who are infected
		Yes	245	9.2 (3.3)	1.0	10.2 (5.9)	-1.9	12.4 (6.9)	-2.8 ^b b p < 0.01.
		No	160	8.9 (3.1)		9.0 (5.6)		10.6 (6.2)
	Lives in a highly affected area
		Yes	143	9.6 (3.1)	2.2 ^a a p < 0.05;	11.2 (5.9)	-3.8 ^b b p < 0.01.	13.3 (6.8)	-3.5 ^b b p < 0.01.
		No	262	8.8 (3.3)		8.9 (5.6)		10.80 (6.5)
	Personally knows someone who died from COVID-19
		Yes	110	9.9 (3.0)	3.2 ^b b p < 0.01.	11.0 (5.7)	-2.8 ^b b p < 0.01.	13.2 (6.8)	-2.7 ^b b p < 0.01.
		No	295	8.8 (3.3)		9.2 (5.8)		11.1 (6.6)
	Infected neighbors
		Yes	124	9.3 (3.2)	1.0	10.5 (6.0)	- 1.6	13.3 (7.1)	- 3.2 ^b b p < 0.01.
		No	181	9.0 (3.3)		9.4 (5.7)		11.0 (6.4)
	Infected friends
		Yes	201	9.2 (3.2)	0.7	10.4 (5.9)	-2.2 ^a a p < 0.05;	12.3 (6.8)	-1.7
		No	204	9.0 (3.3)		9.1 (5.7)		11.1 (6.6)
	Stressful messages from the media
		Yes	317	9.4 (3.1)	3.0 ^b b p < 0.01.	10.2 (5.8)	-3.5 ^b b p < 0.01.	12.2 (6.7)	-3.1 ^b b p < 0.01.
		No	88	8.1 (3.5)		8.0 (5.5)		9.8 (6.5)
Changes in work status
	No changes		260	8.8 (3.3)	3.3 ^a a p < 0.05;	9.3 (5.6)	2.6	11.5 (6.7)	1.1
	Positive change		14	8.8 (3.0)		8.6 (7.0)		10.1 (8.0)
	Negative change		131	9.7 (3.1)		10.7 (6.1)		12.3 (6.6)

Model	Independent Variables		Regression Equation
Model	Independent Variables		F	R ²	R²Δ	β	t
1	Constant		2.2 ^b b p < 0.01.	0.07	0.04	7.5	12.2 ^b b p < 0.01.
		Knows an infected person – Yes				-0.2	-0.4
		Lives in a more affected area – Yes				0.4	1.2
		Knows someone who died from COVID-19 – Yes				0.8	2.1 ^a a p < 0.05;
		Has infected neighbors – Yes				0.0	0.1
		Has infected friends – Yes				-0.1	-0.2
		Has relatives (not living together) who are infected – Yes				0.4	1.2
		Has people living in the same house who are infected – Yes				1.1	1.2
		Is exposed to stressful messages about COVID-19 – Yes				1.1	2.9 ^b b p < 0.01.
		Respondent is infected – Yes				-2.0	-1.3
		Change in work status – Negative				0.8	2.3 ^a a p < 0.05;
		Change in work status – Positive				0.1	0.1
		Course area – Exact Sciences				-1.0	-1.3
		Course area – Humanities Sciences				-0.0	-0.0
		Time of Course – Beginning				0.0	0.1
		Time of Course – Mid-course				0.1	0.3
2	Constant		6.4 ^b b p < 0.01.	0.06	0.05	7.6	20.8 ^b b p < 0.01.
		Knows someone who died from COVID-19 – Yes				1.0	2.8 ^b b p < 0.01.
		Is exposed to stressful messages about COVID-19 – Yes				1.2	3.2 ^b b p < 0.01.
		Change in work status – Negative				0.8	2.4 ^a a p < 0.05;

Model	Independent Variables		Regression Equation
Model	Independent Variables		F	R ²	R²Δ	β	t
1	Constant		2.9 ^b b p < 0.01.	0.10	0.06	5.5	5.0
		Knows an infected person – Yes				0.1	0.2
		Lives in a more affected area – Yes				1.8	2.8 ^b b p < 0.01.
		Knows someone who died from COVID-19 – Yes				1.0	1.4
		Has infected neighbors – Yes				0.4	0.6
		Has infected friends – Yes				0.6	1.0
		Has relatives (not living together) who are infected – Yes				-0.5	-0.8
		Has people living in the same house who are infected – Yes				-0.2	-0.1
		Is exposed to stressful messages about COVID-19 – Yes				2.1	3.0 ^b b p < 0.01.
		Respondent is infected – Yes				-0.9	-0.4
		Change in work status – Negative				1.3	2.1 ^a a p < 0.05;
		Change in work status – Positive				-0.7	-0.4
		Course area – Exact Sciences				-1.8	-1.4
		Course area – Humanities Sciences				0.6	0.9
		Time of Course – Beginning				1.1	1.4
		Time of Course – Mid-course				0.8	1.2
2	Constant		7.8 ^b b p < 0.01.	0.07	0.06	6.8	10.4 ^b b p < 0.01.
		Lives in a more affected area – Yes				2.2	3.7 ^b b p < 0.01.
		Is exposed to stressful messages about COVID-19 – Yes				2.1	3.1 ^b b p < 0.01.
		Change in work status – Negative				1.4	2.3 ^a a p < 0.05;
3	Constant		70.0 ^b b p < 0.01.	0.45	0.44	-1.8	-2.5 ^b b p < 0.01.
		Lives in a more affected area – Yes				1.4	3.2 ^a
		Is exposed to stressful messages about COVID-19 – Yes				0.7	1.5
		Change in work status – Negative				0.4	0.8
		Perceived Stress Scale Total				1.1	16.6 ^b b p < 0.01.
4		Constant	163.1 ^b b p < 0.01.	0.45	0.44	-1.3	-2.0 ^a a p < 0.05;
		Lives in a more affected area – Yes				1.4	3.22 ^b b p < 0.01.
		Perceived Stress Scale Total				1.2	17.3 ^b b p < 0.01.

Model	Independent Variables		Regression Equation
Model	Independent Variables		F	R²	R²Δ	β	t
1	Constant		2.9 ^b b p < 0.01.	0.10	0.06	8.3	6.6 ^b b p < 0.01.
		Knows an infected person – Yes				0.6	0.7
		Lives in a more affected area – Yes				1.6	2.2 ^a a p < 0.05;
		Knows someone who died from COVID-19 – Yes				0.9	1.2
		Has infected neighbors – Yes				1.5	1.9
		Has infected friends – Yes				-0.1	-0.1
		Has relatives (not living together) who are infected – Yes				-0.2	-0.2
		Has people living in the same house who are infected – Yes				-0.2	-0.1
		Is exposed to stressful messages about COVID-19 – Yes				0.8	2.6 ^b b p < 0.01.
		Respondent is infected – Yes				0.5	0.2
		Change in work status – Negative				0.6	0.8
		Change in work status – Positive				-1.6	-0.9
		Course area – Exact Sciences				-3.6	-2.5 ^a a p < 0.05;
		Course area – Humanities Sciences				0.4	0.5
		Time of Course – Beginning				-0.2	-0.2
		Time of Course – Mid-course				0.2	0.3
2	Constant		8.2 ^b b p < 0.01.	0.08	0.07	9.0	9.5 ^b b p < 0.01.
		Lives in a more affected area – Yes				2.2	3.2 ^b b p < 0.01.
		Has infected neighbors – Yes				1.8	2.5 ^a a p < 0.05;
		Is exposed to stressful messages about COVID-19 – Yes				2.1	2.7 ^b b p < 0.01.
		Course area – Exact Sciences				-3.6	-2.6 ^a a p < 0.05;
3	Constant		65.0 ^b b p < 0.01.	0.45	0.44	-1.0	0.2
		Lives in a more affected area – Yes				1.1	2.1 ^a a p < 0.05;
		Has infected neighbors – Yes				1.5	2.8 ^b b p < 0.01.
		Course area – Exact Sciences				-2.3	-2.1 ^a a p < 0.05;
		Perceived Stress Scale Total				1.3	16.5 ^b b p < 0.01.

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E-mail: psychologicalstudies@puc-campinas.edu.br

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[1] Correspondence to: J. VIEIRA-SANTOS. E-mail: joenesantos@yahoo.com.br.