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Cattaneo Della Volta MF, Vallone F, Zurlo MC. COVID-19-Related Stressors and Psychophysical Health Conditions among Italian University Students: A Post Pandemic Insight. Healthcare (Basel) 2024; 12:752. [PMID: 38610174 PMCID: PMC11011279 DOI: 10.3390/healthcare12070752] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/22/2024] [Revised: 03/24/2024] [Accepted: 03/28/2024] [Indexed: 04/14/2024] Open
Abstract
The COVID-19 medical emergency has ended worldwide, yet the psychological impact of these years of unprecedented changes on students' lives still needs to be deepened. METHODS This study aims to assess and compare COVID-19-related stressors (relationships and academic life; isolation; and fear of contagion) and psychophysical symptoms reported by 637 university students at three times, i.e., April 2020 (n = 197), April 2021 (n = 200), and April 2022 (n = 240). The impact of COVID-19-related stressors on psychophysical symptoms within each time was also tested. RESULTS In April 2022, perceived isolation and fear of contagion decreased from the peak registered in April 2021, but stress related to relationships and academic life remained high. An ongoing increase in psychophysical symptoms was found. More than 50% of students reported clinical levels of sleep disorders, depression, psychoticism, and interpersonal sensitivity. In April 2022, students still perceiving stress related to relationships and academic life and isolation were at risk for anxiety, somatization, and sleep disorders. Students still perceiving stress related to fear of contagion were also at risk for depression, obsessive-compulsive symptoms, and psychoticism. CONCLUSION The findings emphasized the long-lasting effects of COVID-19-related stress on students' psychophysical health. Interventions must aim at supporting students in dealing with the complex post-pandemic adjustment process.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Federica Vallone
- Department of Humanities, University of Naples Federico II, 80133 Napoli, Italy; (M.F.C.D.V.); (F.V.)
| | - Maria Clelia Zurlo
- Dynamic Psychology Laboratory, Department of Political Sciences, University of Naples Federico II, 80138 Napoli, Italy
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Padmanabhanunni A, Pretorius TB. Fear of COVID-19 and PTSD: The Protective Function of Problem-Solving Appraisals in Mental Health. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH AND PUBLIC HEALTH 2024; 21:220. [PMID: 38397709 PMCID: PMC10888453 DOI: 10.3390/ijerph21020220] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/10/2024] [Revised: 02/06/2024] [Accepted: 02/11/2024] [Indexed: 02/25/2024]
Abstract
The COVID-19 pandemic was experienced by many people as a major traumatic event, and it contributed to high levels of fear, anxiety, and PTSD. Negative cognitive appraisals have been consistently implicated in the onset and maintenance of psychological distress, but there is far less research on the protective role of adaptive appraisals in mental health outcomes. The current study aimed to address this gap by investigating the role of problem-solving appraisals in the relationship between fear of COVID-19 and PTSD. Participants were students (n = 322) who completed the Fear of COVID-19 Scale, the Problem-Solving Inventory, the PTSD Checklist for DSM-5, and the five-item short version of the trait scale of the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory. Participants had a mean age of 26 years (±10.2; range 17-63). The results revealed that problem-solving appraisal mediated the effects of fear of COVID-19 on all the dimensions of PTSD. However, moderated mediation analysis demonstrated that the mediation effect was moderated by anxiety. In this regard, the indirect effects of fear of COVID-19 on PTSD were only significant for respondents with low anxiety levels. Our findings suggest that intervention efforts need to focus on identifying and actively targeting maladaptive appraisals of the problem-solving ability as well as addressing anxiety-related symptoms that may impede coping.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anita Padmanabhanunni
- Department of Psychology, University of the Western Cape, Western Cape, Cape Town 7530, South Africa;
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Tyler KA, Ray CM. PTSD Symptoms Among College Students: Linkages with Familial Risk, Borderline Personality, and Sexual Assault. JOURNAL OF CHILD SEXUAL ABUSE 2024; 33:127-145. [PMID: 38456682 PMCID: PMC11003306 DOI: 10.1080/10538712.2024.2326543] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/11/2023] [Accepted: 02/27/2024] [Indexed: 03/09/2024]
Abstract
College students have high rates of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms as well as high rates of sexual assault. What is less clear, however, is whether different sexual assault types (e.g. coercive, physically forced, and incapacitation) are associated with greater PTSD symptoms. Moreover, understanding early familial and mental health histories of college students is important for explaining PTSD symptoms. As such, we use a social stress framework to examine the relationships between early familial risk (i.e. child abuse, perceived maternal rejection), borderline personality (BP) symptoms, and three sexual assault types with PTSD symptoms among college students. A total of 783 undergraduate students (65.4% female) completed paper and pencil surveys in fall 2019 and spring 2020 at a large public university. Results revealed that females were more likely to experience child sexual abuse and all three forms of sexual assault, while males experienced higher rates of child physical abuse. OLS regression results showed positive associations between child sexual abuse, perceived maternal rejection, BP symptoms and all three types of sexual assault with PTSD symptoms. Females also experienced more PTSD symptoms compared to males. Findings have implications for targeted interventions to improve mental health outcomes.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Colleen M. Ray
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA, USA
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Malkoc S, Macher D, Hasenhütl S, Paechter M. Good performance in difficult times? Threat and challenge as contributors to achievement emotions and academic performance during the COVID-19 outbreak. Front Psychol 2023; 14:1264860. [PMID: 38046119 PMCID: PMC10690593 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1264860] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/21/2023] [Accepted: 10/27/2023] [Indexed: 12/05/2023] Open
Abstract
Introduction The COVID-19 pandemic has emerged as one of the most formidable global crises, leading to the disruptions to education systems worldwide and impacting learning attitudes and psychological well-being of various learner groups, including university students. In this context, students' appraisals of adverse learning situations play a key role. It is not just the learning situation, but rather students' appraisal of it which impacts their emotions, attitudes, and behaviors in academic context. The aim of the present study was to investigate how university students' challenge and threat appraisals were related to emotional learning experiences and learning outcomes during the COVID-19 pandemic. Furthermore, the study focuses on the role of personal and external resources for learning in this context. Methods Altogether, 428 students, who attended a Psychology lecture at one Austrian university, filled in a questionnaire about their challenge and threat appraisals of learning circumstances during the COVID-19 pandemic, achievement emotions they experienced during this time as well as gender, proneness to anxiety, academic self-concept, and learning resources. Additionally, students' performance in the examination was recorded. Results The structural equation model emphasizes a crucial role of challenge and threat appraisals for students' achievement emotions in learning and exam preparation during the COVID-19 pandemic. Challenge appraisals were the strongest predictor for pleasant emotions and threat appraisals were strongest predictor for unpleasant emotions. Proneness to anxiety was related to threat appraisal as well as to experience of more unpleasant and, surprisingly, to positive emotions in adverse learning situation. Academic self-concept and learning resources were identified as important resources for learning in adverse learning situation. Unpleasant achievement emotions were directly and negatively related to academic performance and may thus be seen as a critical variable and crucial obstacle to academic performance. Discussion The present study provides implications for learning and instructions which could be implemented by universities in order to support learning and learning attitudes among university students in adverse learning situations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Smirna Malkoc
- Institute for Practical Education and Action Research, University College of Teacher Education Styria, Graz, Austria
- Educational Psychology Unit, Department of Psychology, University of Graz, Graz, Austria
| | - Daniel Macher
- Educational Psychology Unit, Department of Psychology, University of Graz, Graz, Austria
| | - Sabine Hasenhütl
- Educational Psychology Unit, Department of Psychology, University of Graz, Graz, Austria
| | - Manuela Paechter
- Educational Psychology Unit, Department of Psychology, University of Graz, Graz, Austria
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Gandino G, Civilotti C, Finzi S, Gaboardi M, Guazzini A, Novara C, Procentese F, Santinello M, Sola T, Veglia F, Venera EM, Di Fini G. Linguistic markers of processing the first months of the pandemic COVID-19: a psycholinguistic analysis of Italian university students' diaries. CURRENT PSYCHOLOGY 2023:1-14. [PMID: 37359583 PMCID: PMC10196289 DOI: 10.1007/s12144-023-04737-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 05/04/2023] [Indexed: 06/28/2023]
Abstract
A longitudinal psycholinguistic study was conducted with 107 students from different Italian universities that produced daily photo-diary entries for two weeks, one at the beginning and the other at the end of the first Italian lockdown period, imposed in view of the rapid dissemination of COVID -19. The task was to take a daily photo accompanied by a short description (text). The texts accompanying the photos were analysed using Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count (LIWC) software to analyze linguistic markers representing psychological processes related to the experience of the pandemic and the lockdown, identifying potential changes in psycholinguistic variables useful for understanding the psychological impact of such harsh and extended restricted living conditions on Italian students. LIWC categories related to negation, anger, cognitive mechanisms, tentative discourse, past, and future increased statistically significantly between the two time points, while word count, prepositions, communication, leisure, and home decreased statistically significantly. While male participants used more articles at both time points, females used more words related to anxiety, social processes, past, and present at T1 and more related to insight at T2. Participants who lived with their partner showed higher scores on negative emotions, affect, positive feelings, anger, optimism, and certainty. Participants from southern Italy tended to describe their experiences from a collective and social perspective rather than an individual perspective. By identifying, discussing, and comparing these phenomena with the broader literature, a spotlight is shed for the first time on the psycholinguistic analysis of students at the national level who faced the first COVID -19 lockdown in Italy.
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Affiliation(s)
- G. Gandino
- Department of Psychology, University of Turin, Turin, Italy
| | - C. Civilotti
- Department of Psychology, University of Turin, Turin, Italy
| | - S. Finzi
- Department of Psychology, University of Turin, Turin, Italy
| | - M. Gaboardi
- Department of Developmental Psychology and Socialisation, University of Padua, Padua, Italy
| | - A. Guazzini
- Department of Education, Languages, Interculture, Literatures and Psychology, Centre for the Study of Complex Systems (CSDC), University of Florence, Florence, Italy
| | - C. Novara
- Department of Psychology, Educational Sciences and Human Movement, University of Palermo, Palermo, Italy
| | | | - M. Santinello
- Department of Developmental Psychology and Socialisation, University of Padua, Padua, Italy
| | - T. Sola
- University of Chieti and Pescara, Chieti, Italy
| | - F. Veglia
- Department of Psychology, University of Turin, Turin, Italy
| | - E. M. Venera
- Department of Psychology, University of Turin, Turin, Italy
| | - G. Di Fini
- Department of Psychology, University of Turin, Turin, Italy
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Ali AM, Al-Dossary SA, Almarwani AM, Atout M, Al-Amer R, Alkhamees AA. The Impact of Event Scale-Revised: Examining Its Cutoff Scores among Arab Psychiatric Patients and Healthy Adults within the Context of COVID-19 as a Collective Traumatic Event. Healthcare (Basel) 2023; 11:healthcare11060892. [PMID: 36981549 PMCID: PMC10048280 DOI: 10.3390/healthcare11060892] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/14/2023] [Revised: 02/18/2023] [Accepted: 03/12/2023] [Indexed: 03/30/2023] Open
Abstract
The Impact of Event Scale-Revised (IES-R) is the most popular measure of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). It has been recently validated in Arabic. This instrumental study aimed to determine optimal cutoff scores of the IES-R and its determined six subscales in Arab samples of psychiatric patients (N = 168, 70.8% females) and healthy adults (N = 992, 62.7% females) from Saudi Arabia during the COVID-19 pandemic as a probable ongoing collective traumatic event. Based on a cutoff score of 14 of the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale 8-items (DASS-8), receiver operator curve (ROC) analysis revealed two optimal points of 39.5 and 30.5 for the IES-R in the samples (area under the curve (AUC) = 0.86 & 0.91, p values = 0.001, 95% CI: 0.80-0.92 & 0.87-0.94, sensitivity = 0.85 & 0.87, specificity = 0.73 & 0.83, Youden index = 0.58 & 0.70, respectively). Different cutoffs were detected for the six subscales of the IES-R, with numbing and avoidance expressing the lowest predictivity for distress. Meanwhile, hyperarousal followed by pandemic-related irritability expressed a stronger predictive capacity for distress than all subscales in both samples. In path analysis, pandemic-related irritability/dysphoric mood evolved as a direct and indirect effect of key PTSD symptoms (intrusion, hyperarousal, and numbing). The irritability dimension of the IES-R directly predicted the traumatic symptoms of sleep disturbance in both samples while sleep disturbance did not predict irritability. The findings suggest the usefulness of the IES-R at a score of 30.5 for detecting adults prone to trauma related distress, with higher scores needed for screening in psychiatric patients. Various PTSD symptoms may induce dysphoric mood, which represents a considerable burden that may induce circadian misalignment and more noxious psychiatric problems/co-morbidities (e.g., sleep disturbance) in both healthy and diseased groups.
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Affiliation(s)
- Amira Mohammed Ali
- Department of Psychiatric Nursing and Mental Health, Faculty of Nursing, Alexandria University, Alexandria 21527, Egypt
| | - Saeed A Al-Dossary
- Department of Psychology, College of Education, University of Ha'il, Ha'il 55476, Saudi Arabia
| | - Abdulaziz Mofdy Almarwani
- Department of Psychiatric Nursing, College of Nursing, Taibah Univesity, Janadah Bin Umayyah Road, Tayba, Medina 42353, Saudi Arabia
| | - Maha Atout
- School of Nursing, Philadelphia University, Amman 19392, Jordan
| | - Rasmieh Al-Amer
- Faculty of Nursing, Isra University, Amman 11953, Jordan
- School of Nursing and Midwifery, Western Sydney University, Penrith, NSW 2751, Australia
| | - Abdulmajeed A Alkhamees
- Department of Medicine, Unayzah College of Medicine and Medical Sciences, Qassim University, Unayzah 52571, Saudi Arabia
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Mallhi TH, Ahmad N, Salman M, Tanveer N, Shah S, Butt MH, Alatawi AD, Alotaibi NH, Rahman HU, Alzarea AI, Alanazi AS, Alzahrani MS, Alshehri S, Aljabri A, Khan YH. Estimation of Psychological Impairment and Coping Strategies during COVID-19 Pandemic among University Students in Saudi Arabia: A Large Regional Analysis. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH AND PUBLIC HEALTH 2022; 19:14282. [PMID: 36361173 PMCID: PMC9656215 DOI: 10.3390/ijerph192114282] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/14/2022] [Revised: 10/19/2022] [Accepted: 10/21/2022] [Indexed: 06/16/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND The COVID-19 pandemic and associated restrictive measures have substantially affected educational processes around the globe, resulting in psychological distress among students. The mental health of students in higher education is of paramount importance, and the COVID-19 pandemic has brought this vulnerable population into renewed focus. In this context, the evaluation of students' mental health at educational institutes has gained invaluable popularity during the COVID-19 pandemic. This study aimed to ascertain the psychological health and coping strategies among students from a higher education institute in Saudi Arabia. METHODS An online study instrument was used to assess anxiety (Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7, GAD-7), depression (Patient Health Questionnaire-9, PHQ-9), post-traumatic stress disorder-PTSD (Impact of Event Scale-Revised, IES-R) and coping strategies (Brief-COPE). The severity of the psychological distress was classified as per the scoring criteria and correlated with demographics using appropriate statistical methods. RESULTS Of 1074 students (age 21.1 ± 2.1 years), 12.9% and 9.7% had severe anxiety and depression, respectively. The mean anxiety and depression scores were 7.50 ± 5.51 and 9.31 ± 6.72, respectively. About one-third (32%) of students reported suicidal ideation, with 8.4% students having such thoughts nearly every day. The average PTSD score was 21.64 ± 17.63, where avoidance scored higher (8.10 ± 6.94) than intrusion and hyperarousal. There was no association of anxiety, depression and PTSD score with the demographics of the study participants. Religious/spiritual coping (5.43 ± 2.15) was the most adoptive coping mechanism, followed by acceptance (5.15 ± 2.10). Male students were significantly (p < 0.05) associated with active copings, instrumental support, planning, humor, acceptance and religious coping. Substance use was the least adopted coping strategy but practiced by a considerable number of students. CONCLUSIONS The long-lasting pandemic situation, onerous protective measures and uncertainties in educational procedures have resulted in a high prevalence of psychological ailments among university students, as indicated in this study. These findings accentuate the urgent need for telepsychiatry and appropriate population-specific mental health services to assess the extent of psychological impairment and to leverage positive coping behaviors among students.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tauqeer Hussain Mallhi
- Department of Clinical Pharmacy, College of Pharmacy, Jouf University, Sakaka 72341, Saudi Arabia
| | - Naveed Ahmad
- Department of Pharmaceutics, College of Pharmacy, Jouf University, Sakaka 72341, Saudi Arabia
| | - Muhammad Salman
- Institute of Pharmacy, Faculty of Pharmaceutical and Allied Health Sciences, Lahore College for Women University, Lahore 54000, Pakistan
| | - Nida Tanveer
- Institute of Molecular Cardiology, University of Louisville, Louisville, KY 40202, USA
| | - Shahid Shah
- Department of Pharmacy Practice, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Government College University Faisalabad, Faisalabad 38000, Pakistan
| | - Muhammad Hammad Butt
- Department of Medicinal Chemistry, Faculty of Pharmacy, Uppsala University, 75123 Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Ahmed D. Alatawi
- Department of Clinical Pharmacy, College of Pharmacy, Jouf University, Sakaka 72341, Saudi Arabia
| | - Nasser Hadal Alotaibi
- Department of Clinical Pharmacy, College of Pharmacy, Jouf University, Sakaka 72341, Saudi Arabia
| | - Hidayat Ur Rahman
- Department of Clinical Pharmacy, College of Pharmacy, Jouf University, Sakaka 72341, Saudi Arabia
| | | | - Abdullah Salah Alanazi
- Department of Clinical Pharmacy, College of Pharmacy, Jouf University, Sakaka 72341, Saudi Arabia
| | - Mohammad Saeed Alzahrani
- Department of Clinical Pharmacy, College of Pharmacy, Taif University, P.O. Box 11099, Taif 21944, Saudi Arabia
| | - Sameer Alshehri
- Department of Pharmaceutics and Industrial Pharmacy, College of Pharmacy, Taif University, P.O. Box 11099, Taif 21944, Saudi Arabia
| | - Ahmed Aljabri
- Department of Pharmacy Practice, Faculty of Pharmacy, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah 22254, Saudi Arabia
| | - Yusra Habib Khan
- Department of Clinical Pharmacy, College of Pharmacy, Jouf University, Sakaka 72341, Saudi Arabia
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