Depression and anxiety consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic: A longitudinal cohort study with university students

IntroductionFor young people, just as in the general population, COVID-19 caused many changes in their lives. The literature review has shown an increased risk for mental illness symptoms as a consequence of the pandemic.ObjectivesWith this study, we aimed to evaluate the impact of COVID-19 pandemic...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:European psychiatry 2021-04, Vol.64 (S1), p.S257-S257
Main Authors: Conceição, V., Rothes, I., Gusmão, R., Barros, H.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Abstract
Anxiety
Cohort analysis
Coronaviruses
COVID-19
Depression
E-Poster Presentation
Mental depression
Mental disorders
mental health
Mental health care
Pandemics
University students
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Summary:IntroductionFor young people, just as in the general population, COVID-19 caused many changes in their lives. The literature review has shown an increased risk for mental illness symptoms as a consequence of the pandemic.ObjectivesWith this study, we aimed to evaluate the impact of COVID-19 pandemic in university students’ anxiety and depression symptoms.MethodsThis study is part of a larger longitudinal research on university students’ mental health with the Portuguese version of The Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) and the Portuguese version of the Generalised Anxiety Disorder (GAD-7) data with evaluations on January, May and October 2019 and June 2020, as well as socio-demographic information.Results341 university students (257 females and 84 males) were included in this study, with a mean age of 19.91 (SD=1.58). In June 2020, the mean for perceived well-being loss was 60.47% (SD=26.56) and 59.54% (SD=28.95) for mental health loss. In the PHQ-9, the proportion of students with scores equal or above 15 ranged between 22.6% and 25.5% in 2019, however, in June 2020, the proportion was significantly higher (37.0%). The proportion of GAD-7 scores above the cut-off 10 ranged between 46.0% and 47.8% in 2019, and, in 2020, 64.5% of the students scored 10 or above. Compared with preceding trends, PHQ-9 scores were 3.11 (CI=2.40-3.83) higher than expected, and GAD-7 scores were 3.56 (CI=2.75-5.37) higher.ConclusionsCOVID-19 had a negative impact on depressive and anxiety symptoms in university students, in line with the literature and confirming the vulnerability of young people in such uncertain times.
ISSN:0924-9338
1778-3585
DOI:10.1192/j.eurpsy.2021.689