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. 2025 Jan 19;15(1):102012.
doi: 10.5498/wjp.v15.i1.102012.

Posttraumatic stress symptoms among Chinese university students during the COVID-19 pandemic: Prevalence, correlates, and mental health help-seeking

Rui-Yao Wu  1 , Lin-Feng Ge  1 , Bao-Liang Zhong  2
Affiliations

Posttraumatic stress symptoms among Chinese university students during the COVID-19 pandemic: Prevalence, correlates, and mental health help-seeking

Rui-Yao Wu et al. World J Psychiatry. .

Abstract

Background: Revisiting the epidemiology of posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSSs) among university students during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic as well as understanding the mental health help-seeking behavior of individuals with PTSSs has critical implications for public mental health strategies in future medical pandemics.

Aim: To investigate the prevalence and correlates of PTSSs among university students during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in China and to examine mental health help-seeking behaviors among these students.

Methods: A total of 2507 Chinese university students were recruited via snowball sampling. The students completed the Seven-item Screening Scale for Post-traumatic Stress Disorder during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in China. Sociodemographic characteristics, pandemic-related characteristics, and mental health help-seeking behaviors of students with PTSSs were also collected.

Results: The prevalence of PTSSs among the participants was 28.0%. Seven significant correlates of PTSSs were identified (odds ratio = 1.23-3.65, P ≤ 0.024): Female sex, being 19 years old or older, living with others or alone, a low level of family economic status, fair or poor interpersonal relationships, severe or very severe local pandemic, and having family members diagnosed with COVID-19. However, only 3.28% of the students with PTSSs reported seeking help from mental health specialists. Among the 23 students who sought help from mental health specialists, 13 opted for online or telephone-based psychological consultation.

Conclusion: Our data suggest that there was a high risk of PTSSs among university students and a high level of unmet mental health needs during the COVID-19 pandemic. The delivery of mental health services online or via telephone is a promising approach to address these unmet needs.

Keywords: COVID-19; China; Mental health help-seeking; Posttraumatic stress symptoms; University students.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflict-of-interest statement: All the authors report no relevant conflicts of interest for this article.

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