ABSTRACT
BackgroundThe novel coronavirus pneumonia (COVID-19) is a highly contagious and highly pathogenic disease caused by a novel coronavirus（SARS-CoV-2）and has become pandemic within a short period of time. The epidemic has brought not only the risk of death from infection but also unbearable psychological pressure. College students as a special group, their mental health status need to be studied during the outbreak of COVID-19.MethodsWe used the Self-Rating Anxiety Scale (SAS), Self-Rating Depression Scale (SDS), and the compulsive behavior part of the Yale-Brown Obsessive-Compulsive Scale (YBOCS), combined with demographic information, using online questionnaires to research, and the study was conducted between February 21 and 24, 2020. A total of 2270 valid questionnaires were collected, the respondents of these questionnaires included 563 medical students and 1707 non-medical students. We separately analyzed the mental health status of medical and non-medical students during the outbreak of COVID-19.ResultsOf the 563 medical students, 20 (3.55%) students had anxiety symptoms, and 57 (10.12%) students had depressive symptoms. Gender, PMH, compulsive behavior, and regularity of daily life during the epidemic outbreak were correlated with their anxiety symptoms and age, PMH, compulsive behavior, and regularity of daily life during the epidemic outbreak were associated with their depressive symptoms. Of the 1707 non-medical students, 66 (3.87%) students had anxiety symptoms, and 180 (10.54%) students had depressive symptoms. Gender, contact history of similar infectious disease, PMH, compulsive behavior, regularity of daily life and exercise during the epidemic outbreak and concern on COVID-19 were correlated with their anxiety symptoms and contact history of similar infectious disease, PMH, compulsive behavior, regularity of daily life and exercise during the epidemic outbreak and concern on COVID-19 were associated with their depressive symptoms.ConclusionsResults indicated that gender, age, contact history of similar infectious disease, past medical history (PMH), compulsive behavior, regularity of daily life, and exercise during the epidemic outbreak are the key factors making college students anxious or depressed. The results provided a theoretical basis for relevant interventions; it is also essential for medical education and public health epidemic prevention.