Abstract
BackgroundThe COVID-19 pandemic has led to massive restrictions in public and private lives, including a shut-down of face-to-face teaching at universities in Germany. We aimed to examine the impact of these changes on perceived stress, mental health and (study-)related health behavior of students in a longitudinal study.MethodsFor two timepoints – the year before the COVID-19 pandemic (2019, n = 1377) and the year during the COVID-19 pandemic (2020, n = 1867) – we surveyed students of all faculties at one German university for perceptions and preventive behavior regarding the COVID-19 pandemic using standard instruments for stress, anxiety, depression, and behavior and experience patterns.ResultsAbout 90% of students (n = 1633) in 2020 did not have a known contact infected with SARS-CoV-2, while 180 (9.8%) did have one. Only 10 respondents (0.5%) reported an infection with SARS-CoV-2. Wearing masks and washing hands more often were practiced by ≥80% of students. Taking more care about cleanliness (51.8%) and using disinfectants (39.2%) were practiced much less. A higher percentage of female compared with male students and medical/health science students compared with science, technology, engineering, and mathematics students engaged more frequently in specific or nonspecific preventive measures. More than three quarters (77.1%) of all students rated their general health as (very) good. There were no significant differences in general health, stress, and depression between 2019 and 2020 in the students who responded at both timepoints. The distribution of behavior and experience patterns for this group showed a slight but significant difference from 2019 to 2020, namely decreasing proportions of students with a healthy pattern and a risk pattern for overexertion. Students with different behavior and experience patterns showed marked differences in perceptions and reaction to the COVID-19 pandemic as well as psychosocial stress and symptoms, with higher scores for mental health symptoms and lower scores in preventive behavior regarding risk patterns.ConclusionDespite massive alterations to students’ lives in 2020, there were only moderate consequences for mental health compared with 2019 in the total student group of this German university. However, identifying students at risk would offer opportunities to foster mental health in relevant subgroups.
Highlights
The COVID-19 pandemic has led to massive restrictions in public and private lives, including a shutdown of face-to-face teaching at universities in Germany
In Italian students, the initial increase in depressive symptoms during lockdown disappeared after the lockdown ended; only 6% were at risk for the development of severe depressive symptoms [14]
Compared with all students enrolled at UzL, MED and health sciences (HSC) students and female students were more prone to participate
Summary
The COVID-19 pandemic has led to massive restrictions in public and private lives, including a shutdown of face-to-face teaching at universities in Germany. For the first time in recent history, due to the COVID19 pandemic public life was massively restricted, including a complete interdiction of face-to-face learning/ teaching at public schools and universities. From universities in different federal states of Germany, about 40–60% of students reported increased mental stress, feelings of loneliness, and fear of the future [10,11,12]. It has to be noted though that about 17% of Bavarian students indicated that they have experienced less mental stress through the COVID-19 pandemic [10] Most of these recent studies are crosssectional and have estimated the difference to the time before the pandemic by using ex-post items. From a longitudinal study in Swiss undergraduate students, there was an increase in depression, anxiety, stress, and loneliness from within-person comparisons. In Italian students, the initial increase in depressive symptoms during lockdown disappeared after the lockdown ended; only 6% were at risk for the development of severe depressive symptoms [14]
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