Abstract
Considerable changes to higher education approaches, as a response to the global coronavirus pandemic, has increased the stress on university students. The impact of these changes has had an effect on the negative emotional symptoms being experienced, which can lead to more severe mental health issues. The purpose of this meta-analysis was to determine the prevalence of anxiety, depression and stress during the coronavirus lockdown. A systematic review of three electronic databases (Google Scholar, PubMed and Medline) was conducted, with 13 studies from different European countries reporting data on students and their negative emotional symptoms identified. The random-effects model was used to perform the meta-analysis on anxiety, depression and stress. The overall pooled prevalence rate was 55% (95% CI: 45–64%) for anxiety, 63% (95% CI: 52–73%) for depression and 62% (95% CI: 43–79%) for stress. The impact of the coronavirus pandemic on negative emotional symptoms has been serious with studies reporting high prevalence rates for these. Isolation, reduced social contact, duration of quarantine and restrictions, which are the characteristics of a lockdown, played an important role in increased negative emotional symptoms for students. Countries have to be aware of this situation and develop mental support strategies to mitigate the impact.
Highlights
On 31 December 2019, Wuhan, China, reported the outbreak of the coronavirus disease19 (COVID-19)
Negative emotional symptoms are experienced as a response to difficult life circumstances, with the most commonly reported as anxiety, depression and stress [4]
Studies were included if they were focused on European countries, were cross-sectional with their time period was during the lockdown period of the COVID-19 outbreak, the full text was available, and they focused on negative emotional symptoms of university students
Summary
On 31 December 2019, Wuhan, China, reported the outbreak of the coronavirus disease19 (COVID-19). Declared a Public Health emergency of international concern, followed by the confirmation of a global pandemic on 11 March 2020 [1]. This situation brought uncertainty to people and had a dramatic impact on the population. Negative emotional symptoms are experienced as a response to difficult life circumstances, with the most commonly reported as anxiety, depression and stress [4]. The two continua model of mental illness and health [6] allows for mental health and mental illness to be separate, but related, constructs In this way, an individual may experience high levels of anxiety, depression or stress without experiencing mental illness. Stress increases as a result of frustration and boredom, inadequate supplies and inadequate information [8]
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