Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2020 May:287:112934.
doi: 10.1016/j.psychres.2020.112934. Epub 2020 Mar 20.

The psychological impact of the COVID-19 epidemic on college students in China

Wenjun Cao  1 , Ziwei Fang  2 , Guoqiang Hou  3 , Mei Han  2 , Xinrong Xu  2 , Jiaxin Dong  2 , Jianzhong Zheng  4
Affiliations

The psychological impact of the COVID-19 epidemic on college students in China

Wenjun Cao et al. Psychiatry Res. 2020 May.

Abstract

A COVID-19 epidemic has been spreading in China and other parts of the world since December 2019. The epidemic has brought not only the risk of death from infection but also unbearable psychological pressure. We sampled college students from Changzhi medical college by using cluster sampling. They responded to a questionnaire packet that included the 7-item Generalized Anxiety Disorder Scale (GAD-7) and those inquiring the participants' basic information. We received 7,143 responses. Results indicated that 0.9% of the respondents were experiencing severe anxiety, 2.7% moderate anxiety, and 21.3% mild anxiety. Moreover, living in urban areas (OR = 0.810, 95% CI = 0.709 - 0.925), family income stability (OR = 0.726, 95% CI = 0.645 - 0.817) and living with parents (OR = 0.752, 95% CI = 0.596 - 0.950) were protective factors against anxiety. Moreover, having relatives or acquaintances infected with COVID-19 was a risk factor for increasing the anxiety of college students (OR = 3.007, 95% CI = 2.377 - 3.804). Results of correlation analysis indicated that economic effects, and effects on daily life, as well as delays in academic activities, were positively associated with anxiety symptoms (P < .001). However, social support was negatively correlated with the level of anxiety (P < .001). It is suggested that the mental health of college students should be monitored during epidemics.

Keywords: COVID-19; College students; Psychological.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of competing interest The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. Bao Y., Sun Y., Meng S., Shi J., Lu L. 2019-nCoV epidemic: address mental health care to empower society. Lancet. 2020;395(10224):e37–e38. London, England. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Wang C., Horby P.W., Hayden F.G., Gao G.F. A novel coronavirus outbreak of global health concern. Lancet. 2020;395(10223):470–473. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Deng S.Q., Peng H.J. Characteristics of and public health responses to the coronavirus disease 2019 outbreak in China. J Clin Med. 2020;9(2):E575. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Xiao C. A novel approach of consultation on 2019 novel coronavirus (COVID-19)-Related psychological and mental problems: structured letter therapy. Psychiatry Investig. 2020;17(2):175–176. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Duan L. Psychological interventions for people affected by the COVID-19 epidemic. The Lancet Psychiatry. 2020 - PMC - PubMed

Publication types

MeSH terms