Associations of loneliness with mental health and with social and physical activity among university students in Germany: results of the COVID-19 German student well-being study (C19 GSWS)

University Students' Financial Situation During COVID-19 and Anxiety and Depressive Symptoms: Results of the COVID-19 German Student Well-Being Study (C19 GSWS)

Background

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a major impact on students' financial situation as well as on their mental health.

Aim

To examine the reported change in the financial situation of German university students before and across two time points of the COVID-19 pandemic and to evaluate its associations with anxiety and depressive symptoms.

Methods

We used data from the cross-sectional COVID-19 German Student Well-being Study conducted at five German universities (N = 7203). Linear regression models were used to analyze associations between a reported change in financial situation and anxiety and depressive symptoms.

Results

Twenty-eight percent of the participants reported to have a worsened financial situation at the time of the survey compared to the time prior to the pandemic. A worsened financial situation at the time of the survey as compared to prior to the pandemic was associated with higher levels of anxiety and depressive symptoms reported in all three depression and anxiety scales [a 1.46 point increase on the CES-D 8 scale (95% confidence interval (CI): 1.19; 1.73), a 0.37-point increase in PHQ-2 (95% CI: 0.28; 0.46), and a 0.45-point increase in GAD-2 (95% CI: 0.35; 0.55)]. An improved financial situation, on the other hand, was associated with lower levels of anxiety and depressive symptoms. As for the second change, comparing the current financial situation with the situation during the first wave of the pandemic, the associations with anxiety and depressive symptoms were broadly similar.

Conclusion

Our findings suggest that students are a vulnerable population in need of mental and financial support during times of crisis. Future research is needed to obtain insights into potential long-term effects of the pandemic on students' mental health.

Lonely and scrolling during the COVID-19 pandemic: understanding the problematic social media use and mental health link among university students

Introduction

Undergraduate university students experienced many academic and non-academic stressors during the first year of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, putting them at a greater risk of negative mental health outcomes. Reports worldwide have shown high incidences of depressive, anxiety, and stress scores among university students at the beginning of the pandemic. Emerging evidence also suggests that to cope with the stress and loneliness of the pandemic, many youth and young adults increased the amount of time they spent on social media platforms.

Methods

Undergraduate students participated in an online study aimed to understand the link between time spent on social media, coping through the use of social media and problematic social media use (PSMU) with mental health symptoms, such as stress, depression, anxiety, and loneliness, during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Results

While time spent on social media was only weakly associated with stress, depression, anxiety and loneliness scores, PSMU more strongly mapped onto these outcomes. Additionally, students who were coping highly using social media displayed elevated stress, depression, anxiety and loneliness levels in comparison to those reporting low levels of coping with social media. Finally, students who reported high levels of coping using social media displayed higher PSMU scores, with this relationship appearing more pronounced in students who had higher levels of loneliness.

Conclusion

These data support evidence that it is not necessarily time spent on social media but rather PSMU that is relevant for mental health symptoms, and that PSMU is exacerbated by loneliness. Moreover, the current results highlight the effects of maladaptive coping on mental health symptoms and PSMU among university students during the COVID-19 pandemic.