Investigating the effect of COVID-19 dissemination on symptoms of anxiety and depression among university students
Background Evidence about the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the mental health of specific subpopulations, such as university students, is needed as communities prepare for future waves. Aims To study the association of proximity of COVID-19 with symptoms of anxiety and depression in university...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Cambridge University Press
2021-03-01
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| Series: | BJPsych Open |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S2056472421000247/type/journal_article |
| _version_ | 1811156998448742400 |
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| author | Daniel Vigo Laura Jones Richard Munthali Julia Pei Jean Westenberg Lonna Munro Carolina Judkowicz Angel Y. Wang Brianna Van den Adel Joshun Dulai Michael Krausz Randy P. Auerbach Ronny Bruffaerts Lakshmi Yatham Anne Gadermann Brian Rush Hui Xie Krishna Pendakur Chris Richardson |
| author_facet | Daniel Vigo Laura Jones Richard Munthali Julia Pei Jean Westenberg Lonna Munro Carolina Judkowicz Angel Y. Wang Brianna Van den Adel Joshun Dulai Michael Krausz Randy P. Auerbach Ronny Bruffaerts Lakshmi Yatham Anne Gadermann Brian Rush Hui Xie Krishna Pendakur Chris Richardson |
| author_sort | Daniel Vigo |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Background
Evidence about the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the mental health of specific subpopulations, such as university students, is needed as communities prepare for future waves.
Aims
To study the association of proximity of COVID-19 with symptoms of anxiety and depression in university students.
Method
This trend study analysed weekly cross-sectional surveys of probabilistic samples of students from the University of British Columbia for 13 weeks, through the first wave of COVID-19. The main variable assessed was propinquity of COVID-19, defined as ‘knowing someone who tested positive for COVID-19’, which was specified at different levels: knowing someone anywhere globally, in Canada, in Vancouver, in their course or at home. Proximity was included in multivariable linear regressions to assess its association with primary outcomes, including 30-day symptoms of anxiety and/or depression.
Results
Of 1388 respondents (adjusted response rate of 50%), 5.6% knew someone with COVID-19 in Vancouver, 0.8% in their course and 0.3% at home. Ten percent were overwhelmed and unable to access help. Knowing someone in Vancouver was associated with an 11-percentage-point increase in the probability of 30-day anxiety symptoms (s.e. 0.05, P ≤ 0.05), moderated by gender, with a significant interaction of the exposure and being female (coefficient −20, s.e. 0.09, P ≤ 0.05). No association was found with depressive symptoms.
Conclusions
Propinquity of COVID-19 cases may increase the likelihood of anxiety symptoms in students, particularly among men. Most students reported coping well, but additional support is needed for an emotionally overwhelmed minority who report being unable to access help.
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| first_indexed | 2024-04-10T04:58:59Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-455b9c9e96ef4fef95fcca2b8740681b |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2056-4724 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-10T04:58:59Z |
| publishDate | 2021-03-01 |
| publisher | Cambridge University Press |
| record_format | Article |
| series | BJPsych Open |
| spelling | doaj.art-455b9c9e96ef4fef95fcca2b8740681b2023-03-09T12:29:06ZengCambridge University PressBJPsych Open2056-47242021-03-01710.1192/bjo.2021.24Investigating the effect of COVID-19 dissemination on symptoms of anxiety and depression among university studentsDaniel Vigo0https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4445-4122Laura Jones1Richard Munthali2Julia Pei3Jean Westenberg4Lonna Munro5Carolina Judkowicz6Angel Y. Wang7https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2001-2220Brianna Van den Adel8Joshun Dulai9Michael Krausz10Randy P. Auerbach11Ronny Bruffaerts12https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0330-3694Lakshmi Yatham13Anne Gadermann14Brian Rush15Hui Xie16Krishna Pendakur17Chris Richardson18Department of Psychiatry, University of British Columbia, CanadaDepartment of Psychiatry, University of British Columbia, CanadaDepartment of Psychiatry, University of British Columbia, CanadaDepartment of Psychiatry, University of British Columbia, CanadaDepartment of Psychiatry, University of British Columbia, CanadaDepartment of Psychiatry, University of British Columbia, CanadaDepartment of Psychiatry, University of British Columbia, CanadaDepartment of Psychiatry, University of British Columbia, CanadaDepartment of Psychiatry, University of British Columbia, CanadaDepartment of Psychiatry, University of British Columbia, CanadaDepartment of Psychiatry, University of British Columbia, CanadaDepartment of Psychiatry, Columbia University, New York, USACenter for Public Health Psychiatry, Universitair Psychiatrisch Centrum KU Leuven, BelgiumDepartment of Psychiatry, University of British Columbia, CanadaSchool of Population and Public Health, University of British Columbia, CanadaDepartment of Psychiatry & School of Public Health, University of Toronto, CanadaFaculty of Health Sciences, Simon Fraser University, CanadaDepartment of Economics, Simon Fraser University, CanadaSchool of Population and Public Health, University of British Columbia, CanadaBackground Evidence about the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the mental health of specific subpopulations, such as university students, is needed as communities prepare for future waves. Aims To study the association of proximity of COVID-19 with symptoms of anxiety and depression in university students. Method This trend study analysed weekly cross-sectional surveys of probabilistic samples of students from the University of British Columbia for 13 weeks, through the first wave of COVID-19. The main variable assessed was propinquity of COVID-19, defined as ‘knowing someone who tested positive for COVID-19’, which was specified at different levels: knowing someone anywhere globally, in Canada, in Vancouver, in their course or at home. Proximity was included in multivariable linear regressions to assess its association with primary outcomes, including 30-day symptoms of anxiety and/or depression. Results Of 1388 respondents (adjusted response rate of 50%), 5.6% knew someone with COVID-19 in Vancouver, 0.8% in their course and 0.3% at home. Ten percent were overwhelmed and unable to access help. Knowing someone in Vancouver was associated with an 11-percentage-point increase in the probability of 30-day anxiety symptoms (s.e. 0.05, P ≤ 0.05), moderated by gender, with a significant interaction of the exposure and being female (coefficient −20, s.e. 0.09, P ≤ 0.05). No association was found with depressive symptoms. Conclusions Propinquity of COVID-19 cases may increase the likelihood of anxiety symptoms in students, particularly among men. Most students reported coping well, but additional support is needed for an emotionally overwhelmed minority who report being unable to access help. https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S2056472421000247/type/journal_articlePsychiatric epidemiologyCOVID-19anxiety disordersdepressive disordersstudent population |
| spellingShingle | Daniel Vigo Laura Jones Richard Munthali Julia Pei Jean Westenberg Lonna Munro Carolina Judkowicz Angel Y. Wang Brianna Van den Adel Joshun Dulai Michael Krausz Randy P. Auerbach Ronny Bruffaerts Lakshmi Yatham Anne Gadermann Brian Rush Hui Xie Krishna Pendakur Chris Richardson Investigating the effect of COVID-19 dissemination on symptoms of anxiety and depression among university students BJPsych Open Psychiatric epidemiology COVID-19 anxiety disorders depressive disorders student population |
| title | Investigating the effect of COVID-19 dissemination on symptoms of anxiety and depression among university students |
| title_full | Investigating the effect of COVID-19 dissemination on symptoms of anxiety and depression among university students |
| title_fullStr | Investigating the effect of COVID-19 dissemination on symptoms of anxiety and depression among university students |
| title_full_unstemmed | Investigating the effect of COVID-19 dissemination on symptoms of anxiety and depression among university students |
| title_short | Investigating the effect of COVID-19 dissemination on symptoms of anxiety and depression among university students |
| title_sort | investigating the effect of covid 19 dissemination on symptoms of anxiety and depression among university students |
| topic | Psychiatric epidemiology COVID-19 anxiety disorders depressive disorders student population |
| url | https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S2056472421000247/type/journal_article |
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