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. 2023 Mar;58(2):119-129.
doi: 10.1177/00912174221123444. Epub 2022 Aug 23.

Somatic and psychological distress among Russian university students during the COVID-19 pandemic

Alena Zolotareva  1   2 , Svetlana Belousova  3 , Irina Danilova  4   5 , Vadim Tseilikman  6 , Maxim Lapshin  2 , Lilia Sarapultseva  7 , Svetlana Makhniova  7 , Igor Kritsky  4 , Roman Ibragimov  4 , Desheng Hu  8 , Maria Komelkova  2   5
Affiliations

Somatic and psychological distress among Russian university students during the COVID-19 pandemic

Alena Zolotareva et al. Int J Psychiatry Med. 2023 Mar.

Abstract

Objective: Previous studies highlighted a high prevalence of mental health issues among students during the COVID-19 pandemic, but there is no evidence from Russia. This study was aimed to examine the prevalence of somatic and psychological distress among Russian university students.

Method: The cross-sectional study was conducted in March-April 2021. The participants were university students from several regions of Russia (N = 1236). The Patient Health Questionnaire-15 and Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scales-21 were used to measure the somatic and psychological distress.

Results: The prevalence of somatic burden, depression, anxiety, and stress was 72.2%, 54.7%, 63.4%, and 55.4%, respectively. Somatic burden, anxiety, and stress were more frequently observed in females and students with experience of COVID-19 disease compared to males and students without experience of COVID-19 disease.

Conclusions: These data illuminate the high prevalence and potential risk factors for somatic and psychological distress among Russian university students and determine the importance of psychoeducation and preventive measures in the Russian university environment.

Keywords: COVID-19 pandemic; Russian university students; psychological distress; psychosomatic medicine; somatic burden.

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Conflict of interest statement

The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Incidence of the SARS-CoV-2 infection in Russia from March 12, 2020 to April 30, 2021.
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
Prevalence of somatic and psychological distress among females and males. * statistically significant differences.
Figure 3.
Figure 3.
Prevalence of somatic and psychological distress among students with and without experience of COVID-19 disease. * statistically significant differences.
Figure 4.
Figure 4.
Prevalence of somatic symptoms among females and males. * statistically significant differences.
Figure 5.
Figure 5.
Prevalence of somatic symptoms among students with and without experience of COVID-19 disease. * statistically significant differences.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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