Dataset Information

Students under lockdown: Comparisons of students' social networks and mental health before and during the COVID-19 crisis in Switzerland.

ABSTRACT: This study investigates students' social networks and mental health before and at the time of the COVID-19 pandemic in April 2020, using longitudinal data collected since 2018. We analyze change on multiple dimensions of social networks (interaction, friendship, social support, co-studying) and mental health indicators (depression, anxiety, stress, loneliness) within two cohorts of Swiss undergraduate students experiencing the crisis (N = 212), and make additional comparisons to an earlier cohort which did not experience the crisis (N = 54). In within-person comparisons we find that interaction and co-studying networks had become sparser, and more students were studying alone. Furthermore, students' levels of stress, anxiety, loneliness, and depressive symptoms got worse, compared to measures before the crisis. Stressors shifted from fears of missing out on social life to worries about health, family, friends, and their future. Exploratory analyses suggest that COVID-19 specific worries, isolation in social networks, lack of interaction and emotional support, and physical isolation were associated with negative mental health trajectories. Female students appeared to have worse mental health trajectories when controlling for different levels of social integration and COVID-19 related stressors. As universities and researchers discuss future strategies on how to combine on-site teaching with online courses, our results indicate the importance of considering social contacts in students' mental health and offer starting points to identify and support students at higher risk of social isolation and negative psychological effects during the COVID-19 pandemic.

SUBMITTER: Elmer T

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7377438 | biostudies-literature | 2020

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Students under lockdown: Comparisons of students' social networks and mental health before and during the COVID-19 crisis in Switzerland.

Elmer Timon T Mepham Kieran K Stadtfeld Christoph C

PloS one 20200723 7

This study investigates students' social networks and mental health before and at the time of the COVID-19 pandemic in April 2020, using longitudinal data collected since 2018. We analyze change on multiple dimensions of social networks (interaction, friendship, social support, co-studying) and mental health indicators (depression, anxiety, stress, loneliness) within two cohorts of Swiss undergraduate students experiencing the crisis (N = 212), and make additional comparisons to an earlier cohor ...[more]

PMID: 32702065

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Project description:BackgroundDuring the COVID-19 lockdown in 2020, adolescents' mental health was largely undermined. A general increment in screen time was reported. However, the long-term effects of the latter on adolescents' mental health are still little explored.MethodsIn the present natural experiment, we investigated these effects using longitudinal data collected before and after the first lockdown in Switzerland. Data come from 674 Swiss adolescents (56.7% females, Mage = 14.45, SDage = 0.50) during Spring 2019 (T1) and Autumn 2020 (T2) as part of the longitudinal MEDIATICINO study. Self-reported mental health measures included somatic symptoms, inattention, anxiety, irritability, anger, sleep problems, obsessive-compulsive symptoms, loneliness, and depression. Measures for screen-media activities included time spent on the Internet, smartphones, social media, video gaming, instant messaging, and television viewing. They were all assessed at T1 and T2.ResultsPaired-sample t-tests with Bonferroni's correction showed that most mental health problems increased over time with an overall medium effect size (Hedge's g = 0.337). In particular, medium effect sizes were found for anxiety, depression, and inattention; small-to-medium effect sizes were reported for loneliness, sleep problems, and obsessive-compulsive symptoms; and a small effect size was found for somatic symptoms. Screen-media activities increased, with the exception of television viewing and video gaming. The results of the hierarchical regression analyses showed that, controlling for covariates, increased time spent on social media - calculated as the difference between T2 and T1 - was the only screen-media activity significantly associated with worse mental health at T2 (β = 0.112, p = 0.016). More time spent in structured media activities like television viewing diminished levels of inattention (β = -0.091, p = 0.021) and anxiety (β = -0.093, p = 0.014). Among covariates, being female, experiencing two or more life events, having mental health problems at T1, and using screens for homeschooling negatively influenced mental health at T2.ConclusionThese results align with literature indicating a small but negative effect of social media time on mental health. Underlying mechanisms are manifold, including increased exposure to COVID-19 news, heightened fear of missing out, social comparison, and time-displaced for activities such as physical activity and green time. However, in line with the structured days hypothesis, getting involved in media-structured activities like television viewing might protect against mental health symptoms.

Project description:COVID-19 has created significant concern surrounding the impact of pandemic lockdown on mental health. While the pandemic lockdown can be distressing, times of crisis can also provide people with the opportunity to think divergently and explore different activities. Novelty seeking, where individuals explore novel and unfamiliarly stimuli and environments, may enhance the creativity of individuals to solve problems in a way that allows them to adjust their emotional responses to stressful situations. This study employs a longitudinal design to investigate changes in novelty seeking and mental health outcomes (namely, stress, anxiety, and depression) before, during, and after COVID-19 pandemic lockdown, among a group of students (final N = 173; M age = 19.81; SD age = 0.98; 135 females and 38 males) from a university in southeast China. Participants were surveyed at three points: November, 2019 (prior to the COVID-19 pandemic); between February and March, 2020 (during the peak of the pandemic and intense lockdown in China); and between May and June, 2020 (after lockdown had been lifted in China). Cross-sectionally, correlation analysis indicated that greater novelty seeking was associated with lower levels of stress, anxiety, and depression at all three time points. Univariate latent curve modeling (LCM) indicated a growth trajectory in which novelty seeking increased over time and then remained high during the post-lockdown period. Stress, anxiety, and depression all showed V-shaped growth trajectories in which these variables decreased during lockdown, before increasing in the post-lockdown period. Multivariate LCM indicated the growth trajectory for novelty seeking was associated with the growth trajectories for stress, anxiety, and depression. This suggests that the observed decreases in stress, anxiety, and depression during the lockdown period may be attributable to the sample's observed increase in novelty seeking. These findings are valuable in that they challenge the notion that lockdown measures are inherently detrimental to mental health. The findings indicate the important role of novelty seeking in responding to crises. It may be possible for future public health measures to incorporate the promotion of novelty seeking to help individuals' respond to stressful situations and maintain good mental health in the face of crises.

Project description:Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has been affecting everyone's daily life in unknown measures since its outbreak. Nearly all Universities around the globe were affected. Further, young people and University students in particular, are known to be vulnerable for developing mental disorders. This study aims to examine the mental health social and emotional well-being and perceived burdens of University students during COVID-19 pandemic lockdown in Germany. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional and anonymous online survey among University students assessed mental health status with standardized measures (depressive symptoms, alcohol and drug consumption, and eating disorder symptoms), attitudes toward the COVID-19 pandemic and perceived burdens, and social and emotional aspects of the pandemic (social support, perceived stress, loneliness, and self-efficacy). Results: In total, N = 3,382 German University students participated. Nearly half of the students (49%) reported that they are worried or very much worried about the COVID-19 pandemic. The majority supports the governmental lockdown measures (85%). A Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) sum score of 10 or above, indicating clinically relevant depressive symptoms, was reported by 37% (n = 1,249). The PHQ-9 sum score was on average 8.66 (SD = 5.46). Suicidal thoughts were indicated by 14.5% of the participants. Levels of depressive symptoms differed significantly for the different self-rated income changes during the pandemic (increase, decrease, no change in income). Further, levels of depressive symptoms and suicidal ideation differed significantly for students from different faculties. Multiple regression analyses revealed that not being a parent, having no indirect social contact one or two times a week, higher perceived stress, higher experienced loneliness, lower social support, and lower self-efficacy significantly predicted higher scores of depressive symptoms, also higher hazardous alcohol use, and higher levels of eating disorder symptoms. Other aspects of lifestyle such as social and cultural activities, dating, and hobbies were reported to be negatively affected during the pandemic. Conclusion: The present study implies that University students are vulnerable and due to elevated depressive symptoms at risk, being hit hard by the pandemic, but are in general coping adaptively. Low-threshold online interventions promoting help-seeking and also targeting various mental health conditions might bridge the gap the COVID-19 pandemic opened up recently.

Project description:BackgroundMedical schools are challenged to guard student wellbeing given the potential negative impact of the COVID-19 outbreak combined with an already high prevalence of mental distress. Although social support is generally associated with less crisis-induced stress, it is unknown whether this applies to medical students during the COVID-19 outbreak.ObjectivesThe impact of the COVID-19 outbreak on perceived stress of medical students was assessed by comparing their perceived stress levels during the outbreak to both their own baseline and the previous cohort's pre-COVID-19 stress levels. Then, the association between social support and stress during the COVID-19 outbreak was assessed.MethodsDutch Year-1 medical students of cohort 2019 (n = 99) completed the 14-item Perceived Stress Scale (PSS-14) at two time points: baseline (pre-COVID-19) and final measurement (COVID-19). Social support-emotional-informational support and club membership-was assessed during the final measurement. PSS and social support scores were compared to similar measurements of cohort 2018 (n = 196). Students' baseline stress levels, gender, and study performance were controlled for when comparing final stress levels.ResultsIn cohort 2018 (pre-COVID-19), students' perceived stress levels did not differ significantly between the baseline and final measurements. Additionally, baseline stress levels of the two cohorts (2018 and 2019) were not found to be significantly different. Cohort 2019's final stress levels (COVID-19) were significantly higher compared to their baseline stress levels (paired t-test: t = 6.07, p < .001) and cohort 2018's final stress levels (linear regression: B = 4.186, p < .001). Only during the COVID-19 outbreak higher social support levels-i.e., emotional-informational support (B = -0.75, p < .001) and club membership (B = -3.68, p < .01)-were associated with lower stress levels.ConclusionsDuring the COVID-19 outbreak, medical students' perceived stress levels were higher-especially for students with lower social support levels. Our results suggest that medical schools should optimize social support to minimize crisis-induced stress.

Project description:The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic is not only a threat to physical health but is also having severe impacts on mental health. Although increases in stress-related symptomatology and other adverse psycho-social outcomes, as well as their most important risk factors have been described, hardly anything is known about potential protective factors. Resilience refers to the maintenance of mental health despite adversity. To gain mechanistic insights about the relationship between described psycho-social resilience factors and resilience specifically in the current crisis, we assessed resilience factors, exposure to Corona crisis-specific and general stressors, as well as internalizing symptoms in a cross-sectional online survey conducted in 24 languages during the most intense phase of the lockdown in Europe (22 March to 19 April) in a convenience sample of N = 15,970 adults. Resilience, as an outcome, was conceptualized as good mental health despite stressor exposure and measured as the inverse residual between actual and predicted symptom total score. Preregistered hypotheses (osf.io/r6btn) were tested with multiple regression models and mediation analyses. Results confirmed our primary hypothesis that positive appraisal style (PAS) is positively associated with resilience (p < 0.0001). The resilience factor PAS also partly mediated the positive association between perceived social support and resilience, and its association with resilience was in turn partly mediated by the ability to easily recover from stress (both p < 0.0001). In comparison with other resilience factors, good stress response recovery and positive appraisal specifically of the consequences of the Corona crisis were the strongest factors. Preregistered exploratory subgroup analyses (osf.io/thka9) showed that all tested resilience factors generalize across major socio-demographic categories. This research identifies modifiable protective factors that can be targeted by public mental health efforts in this and in future pandemics.

Project description:Note: Data Use Restrictions: <ul> <li>The data must only be used for genetic research projects solely in the area of health-related social-network research.</li> </ul> This study compiles detailed information on family and social ties linked to participants in the offspring cohort of the Framingham Heart Study. The investigators took computerized information from self-report data used by the FHS for over 30 years to facilitate health exam scheduling. These tracking sheets asked participants to identify people close to them, which were assumed by the investigators to indicate a social tie. Individuals are listed as "egos" (if the ties are from their perspective) and/or "alters" (if they are linked as a friend or family members to one of the other participants). All egos were FHS offspring participants while alters could be FHS participants in any cohort or non-participants. This information was combined with internal FHS pedigree data on family ties to list family member alters (as well as the nature of their relationship). The resultant dataset therefore includes each ego-alter tie, the nature of their relationship and the start and end dates for their ties for each of seven waves for the offspring study. Due to privacy concerns, all exam dates for individuals are listed relative to the initial FHS exam date. The study investigators chose a random, confidential date, to which all initial exam dates are linked (by number of months from random date to initial exam date). With this information, researchers can have access to the temporal relationships among participants' exam dates while remaining unaware of the actual exam dates for individual participants. During each clinic exam cycle, the participants undergo a detailed examination including physical examination, medical history, laboratory testing, and electrocardiogram. Over the years, other tests (that may not be performed at every exam cycle) have included pulmonary function, lifestyle, physical function, cognitive function questionnaires, and various noninvasive cardiovascular tests including echocardiograms. This study involves phenotypic data from these exams including (when available) basic body measurements (height, weight, blood pressure), laboratory values (blood sugar levels, LDL levels), information on smoking and alcohol use, and tests of depression and cognitive functioning. Important links to apply for individual-level data <ol> <li><a href="http://dbgap.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/aa/wga.cgi?view_pdf&stacc=phs000153.v3.p3" target="_blank">Data Use Certification Requirements (DUC)</a></li> <li><a href="GetPdf.cgi?id=phd001183.1" target="_blank">Instructions to Request Authorized Access</a></li> <li><a href="http://view.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/dbgap-controlled" target="_blank">Apply here for controlled access to individual level data</a></li> <li><a href="GetPdf.cgi?id=phd000317" target="_blank">Participant Protection Policy FAQ</a></li> </ol> In 1948, researchers recruited men and women from the town of Framingham, Massachusetts, beginning the first round of extensive physical examinations and lifestyle interviews that would later be analyzed for common patterns related to CVD development. Initially, the Framingham Heart Study enrolled 5,209 men and women from the Framingham area who were between the ages of 28 and 62 years. Beginning in 1971, the Framingham Heart Study enrolled 5,124 men and women, who were either offspring of the original cohort or spouses of those offspring. In 2002, 4,095 third generation participants (men and women) were enrolled.

Dataset Information

Students under lockdown: Comparisons of students' social networks and mental health before and during the COVID-19 crisis in Switzerland.

Publications

Students under lockdown: Comparisons of students' social networks and mental health before and during the COVID-19 crisis in Switzerland.

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