Assessment of the Long-Term Mental Health Effects on Austrian Students after COVID-19 Restrictions

Abstract

The mental health of adolescents has been severely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. The aim of this study was to assess the mental health of Austrian adolescents in spring 2022, a time during which COVID-19-related restrictions had been significantly lifted. A total of N = 616 students aged between 14 and 20 participated in a cross-sectional survey between April and May 2022 (t2). The prevalence of clinically relevant symptoms was 73% among girls and 44% among boys for depression (PHQ-9 score ≥ 11), 57% in girls and 35% in boys for anxiety (GAD-7 score ≥ 11), 34% in girls and 21% in boys for sleeping problems (ISI score ≥ 15), and 95% in girls and 81% in boys for experiencing at least moderate stress (PSS-10 score ≥ 14). Frequent suicidal ideations were reported by 24% of girls and 12% of boys. These results were compared with the results from a cross-sectional study from February 2021 (t1). To account for differences in covariates between samples, data were propensity score matched before the analysis. Compared with t1, we found an increase among girls regarding clinically relevant symptoms of depression (OR = 1.78), anxiety (OR = 1.34), insomnia (OR = 1.63), and suicidal ideations (OR = 1.96; p < 0.05 for all measures). Significant correlations were found between smartphone use and mental health and physical activity and mental health for both genders. The results of this study indicated that even during the third year of the COVID-19 pandemic, the mental health of adolescents in Austria is still severely impaired.

Keywords: COVID-19; adolescents; anxiety; depression; health behaviors; insomnia; stress.

Figure 1

Flow diagram of the process from survey participation to study inclusion.

Figure 2

McNemar’s odds ratios (ORs) for clinically relevant symptoms of stress, anxiety, depression, insomnia, and suicidal ideation at t2 versus t1. Stress: PSS-10 score ≥ 14, anxiety: GAD-7 score ≥ 11, depression: PHQ-9 score ≥ 11, insomnia: ISI score ≥ 15, suicidal ideation: PHQ-9 item 9 score ≥ 2. The x-axis represents the odds ratios (ORs): <1—clinically relevant symptoms less likely at t2; >1—clinically symptoms more likely at t2. A 95% confidence interval (CI, indicated as grey lines) overlapping 1 indicates a non-significant difference between t1 and t2. The OR for suicidal ideations among boys could not be calculated due to zero events in necessary cells.