Perceived stress among university students in south-east Serbia during the COVID-19 outbreak

• Published in: Annals of general psychiatry 2021-04, Vol.20 (1), p.25-25, Article 25
• Main Authors: Kostić, Jelena, Žikić, Olivera, Đorđević, Vladimir, Krivokapić, Žilijeta
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Anxiety; College students; Coping; Coronaviruses; COVID-19; Data processing; Epidemics; Families & family life; Gender; Health aspects; Independent sample; Infectious diseases; Insomnia; Learning; Likert scale; Mental depression; Normal distribution; Pandemics; Perceived stress; Population studies; Primary Research; Problem solving; Psychological aspects; Qualitative research; Questionnaires; Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2; Sleep disorders; Social research; Social support; Stress; Stress (Psychology); Students; Surveys; University students
• ISSN: 1744-859X; 1744-859X
• DOI: 10.1186/s12991-021-00346-2

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought into focus the mental health of the student population. The study aimed to analyze the psychological response to the COVID-19 outbreak in terms of perceived stress and its related factors among university students in south-east Serbia. The study was conducted during the increased incidence of COVID-19 in Serbia. A total of 434 students from the public university in south-east Serbia enrolled in the study and completed the measures of socio-demographic data, the perceived stress scale (PSS-10), the Coping Strategy Indicator (CSI) and the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-28). The data were analyzed through quantitative and qualitative methods. Study findings suggest that the mean perceived stress score was placed to 20.43 (± 7.67). Our model showed that female gender, higher scores on anxiety/insomnia and depression subscale as well as the coping strategy avoidance predicted higher perceived stress, while higher scores on social dysfunction were related to the reduced perceived stress scores.  CONCLUSION: Notwithstanding the study limitation, findings provided authentic data of stress reactions of the students in south-east Serbia during the COVID-19 outbreak. The findings confirm the need to examine students' experiences in emergencies and crises, as well as to make a plan for online stress management programs that would help alleviate stress during a global pandemic.