COVID-19 Stress and Mental Health of Students in Locked-Down Colleges (Literature Review 3)

Citation

Li, Xueyan et al. “COVID-19 Stress and Mental Health of Students in Locked-Down Colleges.” International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health vol. 18,2 771. 18 Jan. 2021, doi:10.3390/ijerph18020771

Summary

While the long term effects of the pandemic are still largely unknown, we have been able to see the immediate impact that lockdowns have had on college students mental health and the presence of post-traumatic stress. This particular article studied college students at the epicenter of the pandemic - Wuhan, China. Wuhan has a large number of college students; "arguably the largest number of university and college students (college students, thereafter) among all the cities in the world" (Li 1).

College students living through the pandemic face a range of issues including:

infection with covid-19, concern for one's health or the health of family members

concern for family finances (pandemic created an economic crisis)

remote learning difficulties - little interaction with peers, professors; disturbing learning environment (moving back home with family who are all also working/learning from home); problems adapting to and coping with the 'new world' we have entered. 

The study found that there is a high prevalence of post-traumatic stress symptoms among college students.

Author

I was not able to find much upon a google search of the authors name. From what I gather from the article, the author is a sociology professor in Wuhan, China. They lived through the pandemic from the very beginning and was able to observe its impact - both with their own eyes and in more detail when embarking on research.

Key Terms

COVID-19

College student

Mental health includes our emotional, psychological, and social well-being. 

Post-traumatic stress disorder is a disorder that develops in some people who have experienced a shocking, scary, or dangerous event.

3 Quotes

"Individuals in severely affected geographical regions such as Wuhan are prone to develop a series of trauma-relevant psychological symptoms, namely Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)" (1).

"college students may face different risks during the COVID-19 pandemic.

 First, the college students who returned to their hometown from Wuhan may experience the fall from being “the pride of the community” to being “a well-known suspected (or later confirmed) virus carrier...” (2).

*people are skeptical of US college students during corona-times because of numerous instances of young people partying, disobeying covid guidelines, and the general public feeling disrespected by this; college campuses can be seen as a hot spot for covid-19*

"...no matter whether students were in Wuhan or elsewhere, they all had to stay at home for an indefinite time period. A rapid review reported the negative psychological effects of quarantine, including post-traumatic stress symptoms, confusion, and anger. The stressors include longer quarantine durations, infection fears, frustration, boredom, inadequate supplies, inadequate information, financial loss, and stigma" (2).

"Furthermore, the policy brief on COVID-19 and mental health issued by the UN Secretary noted that home isolation increases the risk of witnessing or being exposed to domestic violence and abuse" (2).

"Besides the restraint of normal social life, students had to re-habituate and re-adapt themselves in their “old” home, where their parents may have already been used to the “empty-nest” life since they went to college" (2).

"students who lived in rural areas where the internet infrastructure was inadequate may have had difficulty accessing online learning platforms and resources and became angry, frustrated, helpless, and worried about their academic work" (2-3).

"young people who lacked in-person contact with their peers and teachers may have had difficulty concentrating or were irritable, restless, and neurotic during the long and indefinite period of online learning at home. The lack of in-person social interaction with their peers and teachers and the challenges relevant to the online learning stimulate negative moods" (3).

"Overall, 708 of 4355 participants (16.3%) met the criteria for PTSD symptoms. The prevalence of PTSD among infected students was significantly higher than that among non-infected students" (5).

"This study found that college students had a high prevalence of PTSD, including intrusion, avoidance, and hyperarousal symptoms. In particular, infected students had a significantly higher prevalence of intrusion and PTSD symptoms" (9).

"College students got used to the stable and undisturbed learning environment where teacher–student and student–student interaction were routine. However, as a substitute of normal study life on campus, students had to take online courses at home, which was usually an easily disturbed environment since all family members were home isolated together. Besides, interaction among teachers and students in campus was integral for the social support structure for students. The insufficient interaction meant the decline of social support. The negative impact of online learning difficulties on students’ mental health was empirically supported in this study." (10).

Value

This is an extremely valuable resource. While this resource studies college students in another country, the effects of the virus were global and I feel that this research is able to be applied to students internationally. This article is going to help me discuss exactly the ways in which the pandemic has impacted college students and the presence of post-traumatic stress symptoms, proving that what we are going through is a mass trauma. 

**updated from original posting to reflect final research topic