ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic is continuing unabated in Japan, as of October 2021. We aimed to compare first-year university students' psychological distress before the pandemic in 2019, during the pandemic in 2020, and one year after the onset of the pandemic, in 2021. METHODS: The study conducted online surveys over three years from April to May each year. Participants were 400 first-year students in 2019, 766 in 2020, and 738 in 2021. We examined differences in scores on the Counseling Center Assessment of Psychological Symptoms-Japanese version (CCAPS-Japanese) between the three years using a one-way analysis of variance, and differences in the CCAPS-Japanese critical items using chi-squared test and residual analysis. RESULTS: The average scores on the Depression and Generalized Anxiety subscale in 2021 were significantly higher than those in 2020, but remained the same as in 2019. The Academic Distress subscale score in 2020 was the worst compared to 2019 and 2021. Meanwhile, the number of students who experienced severe suicidal ideation increased year by year from 2019 to 2021. CONCLUSION: The mean mental health of first-year university students worsened after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, and recovered to the pre-pandemic level over the next two years. However, the number of high-risk students with suicidal ideation continued to increase. A system is required for early detection and support for students at high risk of mental health issues.
Subject(s)
COVID-19/epidemiology , Mental Health , Students/psychology , Anxiety/pathology , COVID-19/virology , Depression/pathology , Female , Humans , Japan/epidemiology , Male , Mental Health/statistics & numerical data , Pandemics , Risk Factors , SARS-CoV-2/isolation & purification , Suicidal Ideation , Surveys and Questionnaires , Universities , Young AdultABSTRACT
We examined the effects of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic on first-year Japanese university students' mental health by comparing current year's survey results with previous year's results. Accordingly, an online survey was conducted on first-year Gifu University students from April 20 to May 31, 2020. Study results revealed that, despite the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of "high-risk" students and the depression level were lower among the 2020 first-year students compared to previous year's students. However, the 2020 first-year students experienced high academic distress since they had to adapt to an unfamiliar e-learning environment.