Evaluation of the behavior, anxiety and stress of university students in the new type of coronavirus pandemic

Abstract

Objective: Acute respiratory disease called COVID-19 caused by SARS-CoV-2 caused a pandemic affecting the whole world. Our aim in this study is to evaluate the cleaning and social behaviors, anxiety, and stress situations of university students caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Method: At the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic; university students were asked questions about their socio-demographic characteristics, their cleaning, and social habits, and their level of stress about being infected for themselves and their family members and also a questionnaire was applied which includes a common anxiety disorder scale to measure anxiety levels and Impact of Events Scale to assessing traumatic stress symptoms. Results: It was observed that handwashing behavior increased in 62.4% of 463 participants. The mean of the students' common anxiety score was determined as 3.86 ± 4.86 and 17.5% (n = 81) of all students had high anxiety. The mean scores of the impact of event scale were 14.23 ± 10.9 and the stress point average was found as 5.57 ± 2.9. Students' stress and anxieties affect their cleaning and social behaviors. In addition, when compared between student groups, anxiety, stress, and the impact of event scale and subscales were found to be significantly higher in female students and also in students of faculties other than medical students. Conclusion: Anxiety and stress caused by infectious diseases and pandemics surrounding the world affect human behavior and society. Moreover, female students and other student groups other than medical students are most affected by these situations.