Two Years and Four Time Points: Description of Emotional State and Coping Strategies of French University Students during the COVID-19 Pandemic
While it is now clear that the COVID-19 pandemic has had a major impact on the mental health of individuals, especially the most vulnerable ones such as students, we have very little knowledge about the long-term consequences. The objective of this study was to compare the mental health and coping o...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2022-04-01
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| Series: | Viruses |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/1999-4915/14/4/782 |
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| author | Elodie Charbonnier Aurélie Goncalves Cécile Puechlong Lucile Montalescot Sarah Le Vigouroux |
| author_facet | Elodie Charbonnier Aurélie Goncalves Cécile Puechlong Lucile Montalescot Sarah Le Vigouroux |
| author_sort | Elodie Charbonnier |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | While it is now clear that the COVID-19 pandemic has had a major impact on the mental health of individuals, especially the most vulnerable ones such as students, we have very little knowledge about the long-term consequences. The objective of this study was to compare the mental health and coping of French university students during the different phases of the pandemic in the first 2 years. To this end, French university students were evaluated at four time points: during France’s first lockdown (April–May 2020; <i>n</i><sub>T1</sub> = 1357), the period after lockdown (June 2020; <i>n</i><sub>T2</sub> = 309), 1 year after the first lockdown, which was also a lockdown period (April–May 2021; <i>n</i><sub>T1′</sub> = 2569); and 1 year after the end of the first unlock (June 2021; <i>n</i><sub>T2′</sub> = 1136). Anxiety and depressive symptoms, coping and concerns were measured. In order to compare scores between the lockdown and unlock periods within the same year, paired samples <i>t</i>-tests were performed. To compare scores between the 2 years for different participants, independent samples <i>t</i>-tests were conducted. Our results showed that maladaptive strategies, concerns and symptoms were higher during lockdown periods, compared with unlock periods. In addition, symptom levels were higher in the second year of the pandemic compared with the first one. These argue that the psychological effects of COVID-19 were exacerbated by lockdowns but also by time. This highlights the need for more attention to be paid to students’ mental health. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T12:52:42Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-357b308544334c63836b958b0fd45293 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1999-4915 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T12:52:42Z |
| publishDate | 2022-04-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Viruses |
| spelling | doaj.art-357b308544334c63836b958b0fd452932023-11-30T22:03:58ZengMDPI AGViruses1999-49152022-04-0114478210.3390/v14040782Two Years and Four Time Points: Description of Emotional State and Coping Strategies of French University Students during the COVID-19 PandemicElodie Charbonnier0Aurélie Goncalves1Cécile Puechlong2Lucile Montalescot3Sarah Le Vigouroux4UNIV. NIMES, APSY-V, CEDEX 1, F-30021 Nîmes, FranceUNIV. NIMES, APSY-V, CEDEX 1, F-30021 Nîmes, FranceUNIV. NIMES, APSY-V, CEDEX 1, F-30021 Nîmes, FranceUNIV. NIMES, APSY-V, CEDEX 1, F-30021 Nîmes, FranceUNIV. NIMES, APSY-V, CEDEX 1, F-30021 Nîmes, FranceWhile it is now clear that the COVID-19 pandemic has had a major impact on the mental health of individuals, especially the most vulnerable ones such as students, we have very little knowledge about the long-term consequences. The objective of this study was to compare the mental health and coping of French university students during the different phases of the pandemic in the first 2 years. To this end, French university students were evaluated at four time points: during France’s first lockdown (April–May 2020; <i>n</i><sub>T1</sub> = 1357), the period after lockdown (June 2020; <i>n</i><sub>T2</sub> = 309), 1 year after the first lockdown, which was also a lockdown period (April–May 2021; <i>n</i><sub>T1′</sub> = 2569); and 1 year after the end of the first unlock (June 2021; <i>n</i><sub>T2′</sub> = 1136). Anxiety and depressive symptoms, coping and concerns were measured. In order to compare scores between the lockdown and unlock periods within the same year, paired samples <i>t</i>-tests were performed. To compare scores between the 2 years for different participants, independent samples <i>t</i>-tests were conducted. Our results showed that maladaptive strategies, concerns and symptoms were higher during lockdown periods, compared with unlock periods. In addition, symptom levels were higher in the second year of the pandemic compared with the first one. These argue that the psychological effects of COVID-19 were exacerbated by lockdowns but also by time. This highlights the need for more attention to be paid to students’ mental health.https://www.mdpi.com/1999-4915/14/4/782mental healthlockdowncoping |
| spellingShingle | Elodie Charbonnier Aurélie Goncalves Cécile Puechlong Lucile Montalescot Sarah Le Vigouroux Two Years and Four Time Points: Description of Emotional State and Coping Strategies of French University Students during the COVID-19 Pandemic Viruses mental health lockdown coping |
| title | Two Years and Four Time Points: Description of Emotional State and Coping Strategies of French University Students during the COVID-19 Pandemic |
| title_full | Two Years and Four Time Points: Description of Emotional State and Coping Strategies of French University Students during the COVID-19 Pandemic |
| title_fullStr | Two Years and Four Time Points: Description of Emotional State and Coping Strategies of French University Students during the COVID-19 Pandemic |
| title_full_unstemmed | Two Years and Four Time Points: Description of Emotional State and Coping Strategies of French University Students during the COVID-19 Pandemic |
| title_short | Two Years and Four Time Points: Description of Emotional State and Coping Strategies of French University Students during the COVID-19 Pandemic |
| title_sort | two years and four time points description of emotional state and coping strategies of french university students during the covid 19 pandemic |
| topic | mental health lockdown coping |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/1999-4915/14/4/782 |
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