Objective: Evaluate COVID-19 pandemic impacts on college student mental health.

Participants: Three cohorts of college students (2018  = 466; 2019  = 459; 2020,  = 563;  1488) from three American universities. Participants were 71.4% female, 67.5% White, and 85.9% first-year students.

Methods: Multivariable regression models and bivariate correlations were used to compare anxiety, depression, well-being, and search for meaning before and during the pandemic, and the relationships between pandemic health-compliance behaviors and mental health.

Results: Anxiety, depression, and well-being did not significantly worsen during compared to before (2019) the pandemic (s = .329-.837). During the pandemic, more frequent in-person social interactions were correlated with lower anxiety ( = -0.17,  < .001) and depressive symptoms (=-0.12,  = .008), and higher well-being ( = 0.16,  < .001), but also less handwashing ( = -0.11,  = .016) and face mask-wearing ( = -0.12,  = .008).

Conclusions: We observed little evidence for pandemic impacts on college student mental health. Lower compliance with pandemic health guidelines was associated with better mental health.

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Source
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10522793PMC
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/07448481.2023.2180989DOI Listing

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