Relationships between Perceived Stress, Depression and Alcohol Use Disorders in University Students during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Socio-Economic Dimension.

Beata Gavurova,Viera Ivankova,Martin Rigelsky

doi:10.3390/ijerph17238853

Abstract

The objective of the study was to examine the effects of perceived stress on depression and subsequently to examine the effects of depression on alcohol use disorders. The data were obtained by an electronic questionnaire survey during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic (n = 1523 Slovak university students). Descriptive, regression, and correlation analysis were used in the analytical processing, while the analyses included students’ scores in three diagnostic tools (Perceived Stress Scale (PSS), Patient Health Questionnaire for depression (PHQ 9), and Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT)), as well as gender and income characteristics. The PSS identified an increased level of perceived stress in female students, while in contrast, the AUDIT showed an increased level of alcohol use disorders in male students. Differences in mental and behavioural disorders between the gender and income categories were significant in most of the analysed cases. In terms of gender-income characteristics, it was possible to confirm a significant positive effect of the PSS score on the PHQ 9 score, as well as a significant positive effect of the PHQ 9 score on the AUDIT score. As a result, efforts to reduce stress will be reflected in a reduction of depressive disorders as well as a reduction of excessive alcohol consumption among students.

Highlights

Mental health and unhealthy patterns of behaviour of university students have an undeniable place in professional and public discussions, as this population group forms a society that will be the driving force of the economy in the future
Regarding the research in this study, the findings of Kaya [56] should be highlighted, as these findings show that students with higher levels of depression, as measured by the 9-item version of the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ) tool, had significantly higher levels of perceived stress, as measured by the 10-item PSS tool
Our findings showed that 10.64%, 5.45%, and 2.76% of Slovak students suffered from moderate, moderately severe, and severe depression, which can be compared with Chinese students who reported moderate to severe depressive symptoms with a prevalence of approximately 11% [111]

Summary

Introduction

Mental health and unhealthy patterns of behaviour of university students have an undeniable place in professional and public discussions, as this population group forms a society that will be the driving force of the economy in the future. The alarming prevalence of stress and depressive symptoms among university students contributes to the importance of research in this issue [2]. In this context, it can be noted that up to 53% of students may suffer from depression, which can result in suicidal thoughts with fatal consequences [3]. Risky behaviour is often attributed to this age group, and excessive alcohol consumption is no exception [7,8]. The evidence shows that the risk of problem alcohol consumption is higher among university students compared to

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