Dataset Information

Depression, anxiety and stress among Swedish university students before and during six months of the COVID-19 pandemic: A cohort study.

ABSTRACT:

Aims

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a profound effect on societies and citizens worldwide, raising concerns about potential mental health impacts. We aimed to describe trajectories of depression, anxiety and stress symptoms during the COVID-19 outbreak compared to before the outbreak, and to determine if trajectories were modified by pre-pandemic loneliness, poor sleep quality and mental health problems.

Methods

We conducted a cohort study with 1836 Swedish university students entering the study before 13 March 2020, the onset of the pandemic, with follow-ups within three (FU1) and six months (FU2) of the outbreak. Generalized Estimating Equations were used to estimate mean differences in symptom levels over time-periods, and to estimate potential effect modifications.

Results

We found small differences in mean levels of the depression, anxiety and stress scale (DASS-21) over time. Compared to before the pandemic, depression increased by 0.25 points of 21 (95% CI: 0.04 to 0.45) at FU1 and decreased by 0.75/21 (95% CI:-0.97 to -0.53) at FU2. Anxiety decreased from baseline to FU1 by 0.09/21 (95% CI: -0.24 to 0.07) and by 0.77/21 (95% CI: -0.93 to -0.61) to FU2. Stress decreased from baseline to FU1 by 0.30/21 (95% CI: -0.52 to -0.09) and by 1.32/21 (95% CI: -1.55 to -1.09) to FU2. Students with pre-pandemic loneliness, poor sleep quality or pre-pandemic mental health problems did not have worse trajectories of mean mental health symptoms.

Conclusions

Symptom levels were relatively stable during the first three months of the pandemic, while there was a slight decrease during the summer months, probably due to seasonality effects.

SUBMITTER: Johansson F

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8521369 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Publications

Depression, anxiety and stress among Swedish university students before and during six months of the COVID-19 pandemic: A cohort study.

Johansson Fred F Côté Pierre P Hogg-Johnson Sheilah S Rudman Ann A Holm Lena W LW Grotle Margreth M Jensen Irene I Sundberg Tobias T Edlund Klara K Skillgate Eva E

Scandinavian journal of public health 20210526 7

<h4>Aims</h4>The COVID-19 pandemic has had a profound effect on societies and citizens worldwide, raising concerns about potential mental health impacts. We aimed to describe trajectories of depression, anxiety and stress symptoms during the COVID-19 outbreak compared to before the outbreak, and to determine if trajectories were modified by pre-pandemic loneliness, poor sleep quality and mental health problems.<h4>Methods</h4>We conducted a cohort study with 1836 Swedish university students ente ...[more]

PMID: 34034577

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Dataset Information

Depression, anxiety and stress among Swedish university students before and during six months of the COVID-19 pandemic: A cohort study.

Aims

Methods

Results

Conclusions

Publications

Depression, anxiety and stress among Swedish university students before and during six months of the COVID-19 pandemic: A cohort study.

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