The evolution of psychological distress levels in university students in Spain during different stages of the COVID-19 pandemicrisk and protective factors

  1. María Pilar Matud 1
  2. Jesús Zueco 2
  3. Maria José Del Pino-Espejo 3
  4. Demelsa Fortes 1
  5. María Ángeles Beleña 2
  6. Cristina Santos 1
  7. Amelia Díaz 2
  1. 1 Universidad de La Laguna
    info

    Universidad de La Laguna

    San Cristobal de La Laguna, España

    ROR https://ror.org/01r9z8p25

  2. 2 Universitat de València
    info

    Universitat de València

    Valencia, España

    ROR https://ror.org/043nxc105

  3. 3 Universidad Pablo de Olavide
    info

    Universidad Pablo de Olavide

    Sevilla, España

    ROR https://ror.org/02z749649

Revista:
EJIHPE: European Journal of Investigation in Health, Psychology and Education

ISSN: 2174-8144 2254-9625

Año de publicación: 2023

Volumen: 13

Número: 11

Páginas: 2583-2598

Tipo: Artículo

DOI: 10.3390/EJIHPE13110180 DIALNET GOOGLE SCHOLAR lock_openDialnet editor

Otras publicaciones en: EJIHPE: European Journal of Investigation in Health, Psychology and Education

Objetivos de desarrollo sostenible

Resumen

The present study assesses the evolution of stressful events and psychological distress in male and female students over three different time periods of the COVID-19 pandemic in Spain: the initial “lockdown”, with no face-to-face teaching; the “new normality” period, when classes were resumed; and two years after the first wave of the pandemic. The participants were 1200 Spanish university students who were assessed for psychological distress, COVID-19-associated stressful events, social support, and self-esteem. Female students reported more stressful events and higher levels of psychological distress than male students during the “lockdown” and “new normality” time periods of the first wave of the pandemic. However, these differences disappeared in the third period tested, two years after the first wave of the pandemic, with female and male students showing no differences in psychological distress or in the number of stressful events. The main risk predictors of psychological distress during the first wave of the pandemic were lower self-esteem and having suffered a high number of stressful events. The last variable, number of stressful events associated with COVID-19, lost most its effect two years later, when only self-esteem presented a strong and highly significant predictive role.

Información de financiación

Financiadores

  • Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness of Spain
    • PSI2015-65963R

Referencias bibliográficas

  • Adefris, D.; Moges, B. The psychological impact and coping of Covid-19 pandemic among Arsi university students-Ethiopia. Curr. Psychol. 2023, 42, 2415–2421.
  • Al Maqbali, M.; Al Sinani, M.; Al-Lenjawi, B. Prevalence of stress, depression, anxiety and sleep disturbance among nurses during the COVID-19 pandemic: A systematic review and meta-analysis. J. Psychosom. Res. 2021, 141, 110343.
  • Allen, S.F.; Stoltenberg, C.D. Psychological separation of older adolescents and young adults from their parents: An investigation of gender differences. J. Couns. Dev. 1995, 73, 542–546.
  • Almomani, E.Y.; Qablan, A.M.; Almomany, A.M.; Atrooz, F.Y. The coping strategies followed by university students to mitigate the COVID-19 quarantine psychological impact. Curr. Psychol. 2021, 40, 5772–5781.
  • Arias-de la Torre, J.; Fernández-Villa, T.; Molina, A.J.; Amezcua-Prieto, C.; Mateos, R.; Cancela, J.M.; Delgado-Rodríguez, M.; Ortíz-Moncada, R.; Alguacil, J.; Redondo, S.; et al. Psychological distress, family support and employment status in first-year university students in Spain. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2019, 16, 1209.
  • Arnett, J.J. Emerging Adulthood: The Winding Road from the Late Teens through the Twenties, 2nd ed.; Oxford University Press: Oxford, UK, 2015.
  • Ata, S.M.; Eltahir, M.; Albadah, A.; Harun, H.; Hadeel, H.; Alzahrani, K.T. Association between COVID-19 pandemic conditions and perceived stress level among college students in Saudi Arabia. J. Pharm. Res. Int. 2021, 33, 429–436.
  • Auerbach, R.P.; Mortier, P.; Bruffaerts, R.; Alonso, J.; Benjet, C.; Cuijpers, P.; Demyttenaere, K.; Ebert, D.D.; Green, J.G.; Hasking, P.; et al. WHO World Mental Health Surveys International University Student Project: Prevalence and distribution of mental disorders. J. Abnorm. Psychol. 2018, 127, 623–638.
  • Biggs, A.; Brough, P.; Drummond, S. Lazarus and Folkman’s psychological stress and coping theory. In The Handbook of Stress and Health: A Guide to Research and Practice; Cooper, C.L., Quick, J.C., Eds.; Wiley Blackwell: Oxford, UK, 2017; pp. 351–364.
  • Bulut, N.S.; Yorguner, N.; Akvardar, Y. Impact of COVID-19 on the life of higher-education students in ˙Istanbul: Relationship between social support, health-risk behaviors, and mental/academic well-being. Alpha Psychiat. 2021, 22, 291–300.
  • Cao, W.; Fang, Z.; Hou, G.; Han, M.; Xu, X.; Dong, J.; Zheng, J. The psychological impact of the COVID-19 epidemic on college students in China. Psychiatry Res. 2020, 287, 112934.
  • Cooke, J.E.; Eirich, R.; Racine, N.; Madigan, S. Prevalence of posttraumatic and general psychological stress during COVID-19: A rapid review and meta-analysis. Psychiatry Res. 2020, 292, 113347.
  • Cooper, C.L.; Quick, J.C. (Eds.) The Handbook of Stress and Health: A Guide to Research and Practice; Wiley Blackwell: Hoboken, NJ, USA, 2017.
  • De Sousa, G.M.; Tavares, V.; de Meiroz Grilo, M.; Coelho, M.; de Lima-Araújo, G.L.; Schuch, F.B.; Galvão-Coelho, N.L. Mental health in COVID-19 pandemic: A meta-review of prevalence meta-analyses. Front. Psychol. 2021, 12, 703838.
  • Doherty, D.T.; Kartalova-O’Doherty, Y. Gender and self-reported mental health problems: Predictors of help seeking from a general practitioner. Br. J. Health Psychol. 2010, 15, 213–228.
  • Dongol, E.; Shaker, K.; Abbas, A.; Assar, A.; Abdelraoof, M.; Saady, E.; Hassan, A.; Youssef, O.; Essam, M.; Mahmoud, M.; et al. Sleep quality, stress level and COVID-19 in university students; the forgotten dimension. Sleep Sci. 2022, 15, 347–354.
  • Drapeau, A.; Marchand, A.; Beaulieu-Prévost, D. Epidemiology of Psychological Distress. In Mental Illnesses; L’Abata, L., Ed.; InTech: Rieka, Croatia, 2011; pp. 105–123.
  • Faul, F.; Erdfelder, E.; Buchner, A.; Lang, A.G. Statistical power analyses using G*Power 3.1: Tests for correlation and regression analyses. Behav. Res. Methods 2009, 41, 1149–1160.
  • Gamonal-Limcaoco, S.; Montero-Mateos, E.; Lozano-López, M.T.; Maciá-Casas, A.; Matías-Fernández, J.; Roncero, C. Perceived stress in different countries at the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic. Int. J. Psychiatry Med. 2022, 57, 309–322.
  • Gewirtz-Meydan, A.; Lassri, D.A. Profile analysis of COVID-19 stress-related reactions: The importance of early childhood abuse, psychopathology, and interpersonal relationships. Child Abuse Negl. 2022, 130, 105442.
  • Goldberg, D.P.; Gater, R.; Sartorius, N.; Ustun, T.B.; Piccinelli, M.; Gureje, O.; Rutter, C. The validity of two versions of the GHQ in the WHO study of mental illness in general health care. Psychol. Med. 1997, 27, 191–197.
  • González-Sanguino, C.; Ausín, B.; Castellanos, M.A.; Saiz, J.; López-Gómez, A.; Ugidos, C.; Muñoz, M. Mental health consequences of the coronavirus 2020 pandemic (COVID-19) in Spain. A Longitudinal Study. Front. Psychiatry 2020, 11, 565474.
  • Goodwin, R.; Costa, P.; Adonu, J. Social support and its consequences: ‘Positive’ and ‘deficiency’ values and their implications for support and self-esteem. Br. J. Soc. Psychol. 2004, 43, 465–474.
  • Hagedorn, R.L.; Wattick, R.A.; Olfert, M.D. “My entire world stopped”: College students’ psychosocial and academic frustrations during the COVID-19 pandemic. Appl. Res. Qual. Life 2022, 17, 1069–1090.
  • House, J.S. Work Stress and Social Support; Madison Wesley: Reading, MA, USA, 1981.
  • Jacques-Aviñó, C.; López-Jiménez, T.; Medina-Perucha, L.; de Bont, J.; Queiroga-Gonçalves, A.; Duarte-Salles, T.; Berenguera, A. Gender-based approach on the social impact and mental health in Spain during COVID-19 lockdown: A cross-sectional study. BMJ Open 2020, 10, e044617.
  • Kong, F.; Zhao, J.; You, X. Self-esteem as mediator and moderator of the relationship between social support and subjective well-being among Chinese university students. Soc. Indic. Res. 2013, 112, 151–161.
  • Kowal, M.; Coll-Martín, T.; Ikizer, G.; Rasmussen, J.; Eichel, K.; Studzi ´nska, A.; Koszałkowska, K.; Karwowski, M.; Najmussaqib, A.; Pankowski, D.; et al. Who is the Most Stressed during the COVID-19 Pandemic? Data from 26 Countries and Areas. Appl. Psychol. Health Well Being 2020, 12, 946–966.
  • Krauss, S.; Orth, U.; Robins, R.W. Family environment and self-esteem development: A longitudinal study from age 10 to 16. J. Pers. Soc. Psychol. 2020, 119, 457–478.
  • Lane, J.A.; Leibert, T.W.; Goka-Dubose, E. The impact of life transition on emerging adult attachment, social support, and well-being: A multiple-group comparison. J. Couns. Dev. 2017, 95, 378–388.
  • Lanza, S.T.; Whetzel, C.A.; Linden-Carmichael, A.N.; Newschaffer, C.J. Change in college student health and well-being profiles as a function of the COVID-19 pandemic. PLoS ONE 2022, 17, e0267724.
  • Lazarus, R.S.; Folkman, S. Stress, Appraisal, and Coping; Springer: Berlin/Heidelberg, Germany, 1984.
  • Lelek-Kratiuk, M.; Szczygieł, M. Stress appraisal as a mediator between the sense of coherence and the frequency of stress coping strategies in women and men during COVID-19 lockdown. Scand. J. Psychol. 2022, 63, 365–375.
  • Li, X.; Wu, H.; Meng, F.; Li, L.; Wang, Y.; Zhou, M. Relations of COVID-19-related stressors and social support with Chinese college students’ psychological response during the COVID-19 pandemic. Front. Psychiatry 2020, 11, 551315.
  • Lundin, A.; Åhs, J.; Åsbring, N.; Kosidou, K.; Dal, H.; Tinghög, P.; Saboonchi, F.; Dalman, C. Discriminant validity of the 12-item version of the general health questionnaire in a Swedish case-control study. Nord. J. Psychiatry 2017, 71, 171–179.
  • Mahmud, S.; Mohsin, M.; Dewan, M.N.; Muyeed, A. The global prevalence of depression, anxiety, stress, and insomnia among general population during COVID-19 pandemic: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Trends Psychol. 2023, 31, 143–170.
  • Manchia, M.; Gathier, A.W.; Yapici-Eser, H.; Schmidt, M.V.; de Quervain, D.; van Amelsvoort, T.; Bisson, J.I.; Cryan, J.F.; Howes, O.D.; Pinto, L.; et al. The impact of the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic on stress resilience and mental health: A critical review across waves. Eur. Neuropsychopharmacol. 2022, 55, 22–83.
  • Mateos, R.; Fernández, M.; Franco, M.; Sánchez, M. COVID-19 in Spain. Coming back to the “new normality” after 2 months of confinement. Int. Psychogeriatr. 2020, 32, 1169–1172.
  • Matud, M.P. Social Support Scale; Database Record; APA PsycTESTS: Washington, DC, USA, 1998.
  • Matud, M.P.; Zueco, J.; Díaz, A.; Del Pino, M.J.; Fortes, D. Gender differences in mental distress and affect balance during the first wave of COVID-19 pandemic in Spain. Curr. Psychol. 2023, 42, 21790–21804.
  • Pierce, M.; Hope, H.; Ford, T.; Hatch, S.; Hotopf, M.; John, A.; Kontopantelis, E.; Webb, R.; Wessely, S.; McManus, S.; et al. Mental health before and during the COVID-19 pandemic: A longitudinal probability sample survey of the UK population. Lancet Psychiatry 2020, 7, 883–892.
  • Prout, T.A.; Zilcha-Mano, S.; Aafjes-van Doorn, K.; Békés, V.; Christman-Cohen, I.; Whistler, K.; Kui, T.; Di Giuseppe, M. Identifying predictors of psychological distress during COVID-19: A machine learning approach. Front. Psychol. 2020, 11, 586202.
  • Rens, E.; Smith, P.; Nicaise, P.; Lorant, V.; Van den Broeck, K. Mental distress and its contributing factors among young people during the first wave of COVID-19: A Belgian survey study. Front. Psychiatry 2021, 12, 575553.
  • Rodríguez-Jiménez, M.; Guerrero-Barona, E.; García-Gómez, A. Mental health and psychological capital among Spanish health care workers during COVID-19 pandemic. Med. Clin. 2021, 156, 357–358.
  • Rosenberg, M. Rosenberg self-esteem scale (RSE): Acceptance and commitment therapy. Measur. Pack 1965, 61, 52.
  • Rosenberg, M. Society and the Adolescent Self-Image; Princeton University Press: Princeton, NJ, USA, 1965.
  • Saikkonen, S.; Karukivi, M.; Vahlberg, T.; Saarijärvi, S. Associations of social support and alexithymia with psychological distress in Finnish young adults. Scand. J. Psychol. 2018, 59, 602–609.
  • Santamaría, C.; Sermi, F.; Spyratos, S.; Iacus, S.M.; Annunziato, A.; Tarchi, D.; Vespe, M. Measuring the impact of COVID19 confinement measures on human mobility using mobile positioning data. A European regional analysis. Saf. Sci. 2020, 139, 104925.
  • Son, C.; Hegde, S.; Smith, A.; Wang, X.; Sasangohar, F. Effects of COVID-19 on University Students’ Mental Health in the United States: Interview Survey Study. J. Med. Internet Res. 2020, 22, e21279.
  • Tang, F.; Byrne, M.; Qin, P. Psychological distress and risk for suicidal behavior among university students in contemporary China. J. Affect Disord. 2018, 228, 101–108.
  • Tsur, N.; Abu-Raiya, H. COVID-19-related fear and stress among individuals who experienced child abuse: The mediating effect of complex posttraumatic stress disorder. Child Abuse Negl. 2020, 110, 104694.
  • Twenge, J.M.; Cooper, A.B.; Joiner, T.E.; Duffy, M.E.; Binau, S.G. Age, period, and cohort trends in mood disorder indicators and suicide-related outcomes in a nationally representative dataset, 2005–2017. J. Abnorm. Psychol. 2019, 128, 185–199.
  • Von Keyserlingk, L.; Yamaguchi-Pedroza, K.; Arum, R.; Eccles, J.S. Stress of university students before and after campus closure in response to COVID-19. J. Community Psychol. 2022, 50, 285–301.
  • Wang, C.; Havewala, M.; Zhu, Q. COVID-19 stressful life events and mental health: Personality and coping styles as moderators. J. Am. Coll. Health. 2022, 26, 1–10.
  • Weissman, J.; Russell, D.; Mann, J. Sociodemographic characteristics, financial worries and serious psychological distress in U.S. adults. Community Men. Health J. 2020, 56, 606–613.
  • World Health Organization. COVID-19. Spain Situation. Available online: https://covid19.who.int/region/euro/country/es (accessed on 12 September 2023).
  • World Health Organization. WHO Director-General’s Opening Remarks at the Media Briefing on COVID-19—11 March 2020. Available online: https://www.who.int/director-general/speeches/detail/who-director-general-s-opening-remarks-at-themedia-briefing-on-covid-19.11-March-2022 (accessed on 20 February 2023).
  • World Health Organization. Mental Health and Psychosocial Considerations during the COVID-19 Outbreak. 2020. Available online: https://www.who.int/docs/default-source/coronaviruse/mental-health-considerations.pdf (accessed on 20 February 2023).
  • Ye, Z.; Yang, X.; Zeng, C.; Wang, Y.; Shen, Z.; Li, X.; Lin, D. Resilience, social support, and coping as mediators between COVID-19-related stressful experiences and acute stress disorder among university students in China. Appl. Psychol. Health Well-Being 2020, 12, 1074–1094.