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. 2022 Sep 30;10(1):227.
doi: 10.1186/s40359-022-00934-1.

Evaluation and analysis of anxiety and depression symptoms for college students during COVID-19 pandemic

Dingwei Gao #  1 , Qingzhi Xiang #  2 , Ganghua Lu #  1 , Junyu Tong  1 , Wen Jiang  1 , Xiaqing Yu  1 , Ru Wang  1 , Zhongwei Lv  3 , Dan Li  4   5
Affiliations

Evaluation and analysis of anxiety and depression symptoms for college students during COVID-19 pandemic

Dingwei Gao et al. BMC Psychol. .

Abstract

Background: The mental health of students is affected by COVID-19. We aim to evaluate the anxiety and depression symptoms among college students during COVID-19 pandemic, analyze the influence factors that contribute to college students' anxiety and depression symptoms, and provide some suggestions for improving the mental health of college students.

Methods: With 179 college students participating, an online questionnaire consisting of a general questionnaire, Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD-7), and Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) was conducted in universities in Shanghai. The anxiety and depression symptoms among college students were evaluated using GAD-7 and PHQ-9 scales, and influence factors were analyzed using an unordered multi-class Logistic regression model.

Results: The reliability and validity of the GAD-7 and PHQ-9 scales were good (reliability ≥ 0.9, validity = 100%). The incidence of anxiety was 32.4%, of which were 23.5%, 8.4%, and 0.6% in mild, moderate, and severe, respectively; and the incidence of depression was 46.40%, of which in mild, moderate, moderate to severe, and severe were 28.5%, 10.1%, 7.3%, and 0.6%, respectively. Multivariate analysis revealed that male students with strong psychological quality, who were not easily affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, who received less negative or false information, and who had a strong grasp of psychology and related knowledge were less likely to suffer from mild or moderate anxiety symptoms [OR (95% CI) 0.18 (0.04, 0.81), 0.12 (0.05, 0.33), 0.23 (0.06, 0.89) and 0.07 (0.01, 0.74)]. Furthermore, college students who were not affected by the COVID-19 pandemic were less likely to suffer from mild, moderate, and moderate to severe depression symptoms [OR (95% CI) 0.23 (0.08, 0.65), 0.22 (0.05, 0.93), 0.10 (0.02, 0.54)].

Conclusion: The GAD-7 and PHQ-9 scales are suitable for evaluating anxiety and depression symptoms in college students. The COVID-19 pandemic was associated with a high incidence of anxiety and depression symptoms among college students, although gender and mental state fluctuations during the pandemic, negative and false information, and exposure to psychology and related courses were the main influencing factors.

Keywords: Anxiety and depression symptoms; COVID-19; College students; Mental health; Reliability and validity; The GAD-7 and PHQ-9 scale.

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Conflict of interest statement

We declare that we have no financial and personal relationships with other people or organizations that can inappropriately influence our work, there is no professional or other personal interest of any nature or kind in any product, service and/or company that could be construed as influencing the position presented in, or the review of, the manuscript entitled, “Evaluation and Analysis of Anxiety and Depression Symptoms for College Students during the COVID-19 Pandemic”.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Correlation heat map of anxiety and depressive symptoms with factors. aThe medical students of profession; bfamiliarity with psychology and related knowledge; cthe impact of COVID-19 [(iii) the adverse information, and (vi) the mental health]. *P < 0.05; **P < 0.01
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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