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. 2021 Mar 11:12:643171.
doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.643171. eCollection 2021.

A Longitudinal Study on Generalized Anxiety Among University Students During the First Wave of the COVID-19 Pandemic in Switzerland

Simone Amendola  1   2 , Agnes von Wyl  1 , Thomas Volken  3 , Annina Zysset  3 , Marion Huber  3 , Julia Dratva  3   4
Affiliations

A Longitudinal Study on Generalized Anxiety Among University Students During the First Wave of the COVID-19 Pandemic in Switzerland

Simone Amendola et al. Front Psychol. .

Abstract

Objective: The COVID-19 pandemic and government measures implemented to counter the spread of the infection may be a major stressor affecting the psychological health of university students. This study aimed to explore how anxiety symptoms changed during the pandemic.

Methods: 676 students (76% females) at Zurich University of Applied Sciences participated in the first (T0) and second (T1) survey waves. Anxiety symptoms were assessed using the Generalized Anxiety Disorder-Scale-7 (GAD-7). Risk and protective factors (e.g., COVID-19-related variables) were examined.

Results: GAD-7 scores decreased significantly from T0 to T1 (mean change: -0.446, SE = 0.132, 95% CI: -0.706, -0.186, t = -3.371, df = 659, p = 0.001). Participants with moderate-to-severe anxiety score were 20.2 and 15.6% at T0 and T1, respectively. The following positively predicted anxiety: older age, female gender, non-Swiss nationality, loneliness, participants' concern about their own health, and interaction between time and participants' concern about their own health. Resilience and social support negatively predicted anxiety.

Conclusions: Our findings provide information for public health measures and psychological interventions supporting the mental health of university students during the COVID-19 emergency.

Keywords: COVID-19 pandemic; anxiety; coronavirus; linear mixed model; lockdown; longitudinal.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
National epidemic trend of the daily number of: (A) People testing positive for SARS-Cov-2, and (B) Deaths due to COVID-19 in Switzerland from February 25–September 7, 2020.
FIGURE 2
FIGURE 2
Estimated marginal mean scores at the Generalized Anxiety Scale - 7 as predicted by the interaction term Time * participant’s Concern for their own health in: (A) Unadjusted Model 1, and (B) Adjusted Model 2. Error bars represent the 95% confidence intervals.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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