Page 47 - JCBP-3-2

Journal of Clinical and
Basic Psychosomatics Mental health status of Chinese college students in the post-epidemic period

Table 3. Correlation matrix and Pearson coefficients between (58%) said that other students felt pressure/anxiety due to
perceived stress, generalized anxiety, depressive symptoms, the easing of COVID-19 restrictions. Less than half of the
and sleep disorders (n=1105) respondents (47%) said that they could fully cope with the

Variable 1 2 3 4 pressure following the outbreak. Most participants (88%)
PSS-10 - worried about the high vulnerability of their families and
relatives to COVID-19 infection at varying degrees in the
GAD-7 0.571** - wake of the relaxation of COVID-19 restrictions.
PHQ-9 0.576** 0.679** -
A previous study has shown that sudden large-scale
SRSS 0.390** 0.563** 0.622** - public health events significantly affect college students’
Abbreviations: GAD-7: Generalized anxiety disorder-7 scale; mental health. A study showed that the proportion of
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PHQ-9: Patient health questionnaire-9; PSS-10: Perceived pressure scale;
SRSS: Self-rating scale of sleep. *p < 0.05;b **p < 0.01; ***p < 0.001. participants who had depression was significantly higher
than that during the COVID-19 pandemic. For example,
positive and large. Both the GAD-7 and SRSS had large Ma et al. found that approximately 21% of the 746,217
effects. The PHQ-9 was positively correlated with the SRSS. college students they analyzed showed different degrees of
depression during the COVID-19 pandemic in China. In
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3.4. Binary logistic regression a separate study, after surveying 933 college students during
A binary logistic regression analysis was carried out to the COVID-19 pandemic in China, Xiao et al. determined
establish a prediction of the influencing factors of college that the prevalence of depression in this demographic group
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students’ mental health after the relaxation of COVID-19 was 25%. In addition, 33% of the study participants had
restrictions (Table 4). The analysis showed that among different anxiety levels. These findings are similar to those
the respondents, the increase in stress, ability to cope of previous studies. Wang et al. and Liu et al. found a high
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with stress, and lack of knowledge about the spread or proportion of anxiety in a cross-sectional survey of college
transmission of COVID-19 were the most important students’ mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic
predictors of generalized anxiety (P <0.001), followed by in China, with anxiety affecting 25% (4754 people) and
being a medical student and perceived anxiety of others 29% (652 people), respectively. Some studies showed that
(P < 0.010). The main predictors of high scores on the students and people aged 18 – 24 years are at higher risk
PHQ-9 were the pressure of past or ongoing infection of anxiety and depression. Therefore, active provision of
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with COVID-19 and inability to cope with the pandemic support and help to vulnerable students to manage their
(P < 0.001), followed by sex, medical specialty, increased mental health should be conducted immediately.
pressure, anxiety, and lack of knowledge of COVID-19 The survey results showed that most participants’
transmission or infection (P < 0.01). Interestingly, the level perceived pressure (70%) increased significantly after the
of anxiety and depression among medical students was pandemic restrictions were eased. The proportion of stress
more significant than that among nonmedical students. among Chinese college students during the pandemic was
The main predictor of perceived stress was the fear of family 25
members and relatives being infected with COVID-19 20% (out of 508 people), and the perceived stress was 14%
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and the lack of knowledge of COVID-19 transmission or (out of 3092 people) when Wang et al. investigated the
infection (P < 0.001). The second predictor was the fear anxiety and sleep problems of college students during
of taking public transportation when going out (P < 0.05). the COVID-19 pandemic. Their results concord with
Finally, stress after the pandemic was the main predictor of the current set of findings, evidenced by the sources of
sleep disorders (P < 0.001). Furthermore, vaccination and pressure stemming from the lack of knowledge regarding
COVID-19 infection had a certain effect on sleep disorders the treatment of COVID-19, the difficulty in purchasing
(P < 0.010). COVID-19 prevention materials, and the fear of infection
of oneself or family members. The survey found that the
4. Discussion proportion of sleep disorders increased after the pandemic
restrictions were eased. For example, in a study on anxiety
4.1. Main findings and sleep problems during the COVID-19 pandemic, sleep
Among the 1105 participants, 33% showed mild to severe disorders affected 14% of the college students (out of 3092
anxiety, 54% underwent mild to severe depression, 70% felt people). In a cross-sectional study on the sleep quality
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moderate to severe perceived stress, and 28% experienced of college students during the COVID-19 pandemic in
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sleep disorders. The majority of them suffered from a China, sleep disorders affected 16% (3416 people). This
significant effect, as shown by the severity of depression may be caused by increased stress, which is an important
and anxiety (P < 0.01). More than half of the participants influencing factor of sleep disorders and insomnia. 28

Volume 3 Issue 2 (2025) 41 doi: 10.36922/jcbp.2139