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. 2022 Jul 13:67:1604468.
doi: 10.3389/ijph.2022.1604468. eCollection 2022.

Financial Loss and Depressive Symptoms in University Students During the First Wave of the COVID-19 Pandemic: Comparison Between 23 Countries

Stefano Tancredi  1   2 , Claudine Burton-Jeangros  3 , René Ruegg  4 , Elena Righi  2 , Anna Kagstrom  5   6 , Amelie Quesnel Vallee  7   8 , Arnaud Chiolero  1   7   9 , Piet Bracke  10 , Veerle Buffel  11 , Sarah Van De Velde  11 , Stéphane Cullati  1   12
Affiliations

Financial Loss and Depressive Symptoms in University Students During the First Wave of the COVID-19 Pandemic: Comparison Between 23 Countries

Stefano Tancredi et al. Int J Public Health. .

Abstract

Objectives: To assess the association between students' financial loss and depressive symptoms during the first wave of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic and whether this association varied by countries having different levels of lockdown measures. Methods: This cross-sectional survey, conducted in spring 2020, included 91,871 students from 23 countries. Depressive symptoms were measured using the shortened Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale and information on lockdowns retrieved from the COVID-19 government response tracker. The association between financial loss and depressive symptoms was investigated estimating prevalence ratios (PR) with multilevel Poisson models. Results: Some 13% of students suffered financial loss during the lockdown and 52% had a relatively high depression score, with large between-countries differences. Minimally and maximally adjusted models showed a 35% (PR = 1.35, 95% Confidence Interval (CI) = 1.29-1.42) and 31% (PR = 1.31, 95% CI = 1.26-1.37) higher prevalence of depressive symptoms in students who lost economic resources compared to students with stable economic resources. No substantial differences in the association were found across countries. Conclusion: Depressive symptoms were more frequent among students who suffered financial loss during the pandemic. Policy makers should consider this issue in the implementation of COVID-19 mitigating measures.

Keywords: coronavirus disease 2019; depression; financial loss; mental health; university students.

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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
Flow Chart of the respondents’ inclusion, COVID-19 International Student Well-being study, 23 countries worldwide, 2020.
FIGURE 2
FIGURE 2
Loss of economic resources and adjusted Prevalence Ratios for depressive symptoms stratified by country, COVID-19 International Student Well-being study, 23 countries worldwide, 2020. Note. Prevalence ratios (PR) were adjusted for age, sex, contact with counselling service, excess of mortality, timing of the survey, relationship status, trusted person availability, level of different social activities, educational level of parents and tuition coverage (see Model 4). Countries are sorted basing on the severity of the lockdown (from the less severe to the most severe) from the beginning of the pandemic to the closing date of the survey for each country.
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