Depressive symptoms in higher education students during the COVID-19 pandemic: the role of containment measures

Veerle Buffel (1) , Sarah van de Velde (1) , Yildiz Akvardar (2) , Miia Bask (3) , Marie-Christine Brault (4) , Heide Busse (5) , Andreas Chatzittofis (6) , Joel Ladner (7, 8, 9, 10) , Fatemeh Rabiee-Khan (11) , Theoni Stathopoulou (12) , Marie-Pierre Tavolacci (7, 8, 9, 13) , Claudia van Der Heijde (14) , Claudia Pischke (15) , Paula Mayara Matos Fialho (16) , Edwin Wouters (1)

1 Universiteit Antwerpen = University of Antwerpen [Antwerpen]
2 Marmara University [Kadıköy - İstanbul]
3 Uppsala University
4 Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, Université du Québec à Chicoutimi (UQAC), Québec, Canada.
5 Department of Prevention and Evaluation, Leibniz Institute for Prevention Research and Epidemiology-BIPS, Bremen, Germany.
6 Lebanese University Faculty of Pharmacy, Hadath, Lebanon; Institut National de Santé Publique, Epidémiologie Clinique et Toxicologie - Liban (INSPECT-LB), Beirut-Lebanon; University of Nicosia Medical School, Nicosia, Cyprus.
7 ADEN - Nutrition, inflammation et dysfonctionnement de l'axe intestin-cerveau
8 IRIB - Institute for Research and Innovation in Biomedicine
9 UNIROUEN UFR Santé - UNIROUEN - UFR Santé
10 Département d'épidémiologie et de promotion de la santé [Rouen]
11 Faculty of Health, Education & life sciences, Birmingham City University, Birmingham, UK.
12 National Centre for Social Research, Institute of Social Research, Athens, Greece.
13 CIC Rouen - Centre d'Investigation Clinique [CHU Rouen]
14 Student Health Services, University of Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
15 Institute of Medical Sociology, Centre for Health and Society, Medical Faculty, Heinrich Heine University Duesseldorf, Duesseldorf, Germany.
16 Institute of Medical Sociology, Centre for Health and Society, Medical Faculty, Heinrich Heine University Duesseldorf, Duesseldorf, Germany.

Abstract Background Students are a vulnerable group for the indirect impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly their mental health. This paper examined the cross-national variation in students' depressive symtoms and whether this can be related to the various protective measures implemented in response to the initial stage of the COVID-19 outbreak. Methods Student data stem from the COVID-19 International Student Well-being Study, covering 26 countries during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. Country-level data on government responses to the COVID-19 pandemic were retrieved from the Oxford COVID-19 Tracker. Multilevel analyses were performed to estimate the impact of the containment and economic support measures on students' depressive symptoms (n = 78 312). Results School and workplace closures, and stay-at-home restrictions were positively related to students' depressive symptoms during the COVID-19 pandemic, while none of the economic support measures significantly related to depressive symptoms. Countries' scores on the index of these containment measures explained 1.5% of the cross-national variation in students' depressive symptoms (5.3%). This containment index's effect was stable, even when controlling for the economic support index, students' characteristics, and countries' epidemiological context and economic conditions. Conclusions Our findings raise concerns about the potential adverse effects of existing containment measures (especially the closure of schools and workplaces and stay-at-home restrictions) on students' mental health.

Domaines: Physiologie [q-bio.TO]

Veerle Buffel, Sarah van de Velde, Yildiz Akvardar, Miia Bask, Marie-Christine Brault, et al.. Depressive symptoms in higher education students during the COVID-19 pandemic: the role of containment measures. European Journal of Public Health, 2022, ⟨10.1093/eurpub/ckac026⟩. ⟨hal-03615405⟩