Social isolation, psychological distress and resilience of Chinese college students during COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

It has been 3 years since the first appearance of COVID-19 in China. During this time, social isolation was widely used as an important method to fight it. However, this measure had many negative effects on the mental health of college students. To better understand this issue, this study aims to explore the impact of social isolation and COVID-19-related stress on psychological distress among Chinese college students. Additionally, resilience has been evaluated as a key component of stress resistance in this situation. Coronavirus Stress Measure (CSM), the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RISC) and the Brief Symptom Inventory (BSI) were used in this study. A total of 388 Chinese college students participated in the survey via the Internet. Two groups (isolated group vs. non-isolated group) were divided according to whether they have been isolated from their classmates and families. Data analysis adopts t-test, F test and mediate effect analysis by SPSS21.0. (1) All factors, except resilience, were found to have lower scores in the isolated group; (2) significant correlations were found between all factors; (3) resilience partially mitigated the impact of COVID-19 stress on psychological symptoms. Social isolation has been found to be a significant factor contributing to negative psychological distress in Chinese college students. The COVID-19-related stress may increase the likelihood of psychological suffering among isolated group. Resilience can help reduce the negative effects of COVID-19 stress on college students. Therefore, providing appropriate psychological support tailored to different isolation situations is crucial.

Keywords: China; Social isolation, COVID-19-related stress; college students; psychological distress; resilience.