Depression, Anxiety and Stress During the COVID-19 Pandemic Among Serbian University Students

Abstract

Abstract Our study focused at measuring stress, anxiety, and depression among the population of university students in Serbia. The sample included 493 students from The Faculty of Mechanical Engineering and the Higher Medical School, Kraljevo, University of Kragujevac, Central Serbia. The electronic survey was completed in approximately 10 minutes. Data collection was conducted during September and October, 2022. The research instruments included: General Questionnaire (used to collect demographic and personal data before and during the COVID-19 pandemic) and Depression Anxiety Stress Scales (DASS-21). All statistical calculations were performed using the standard commercial, standard software package SPSS, version 18.0. 12.8% of students reported severe and very severe symptoms of depression. In 21.7% of cases, severe and very severe symptoms of anxiety were reported. 20.3% of students reported sever and very severe symptoms of stress. Even though there are several studies on the mental health of Serbian college and university students during the COVID-19 pandemic, our article is unique in that it observes their mental health two years after the onset of the pandemic. This allows us to compare the findings with those obtained for the onset of the pandemic.