Investigation and analysis of negative emotion among university students during home quarantine of COVID-19

ABSTRACT

Objective: To investigate the negative emotions among university students during home quarantine under the epidemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) so as to provide scientific basis for psychological counseling. Methods: We conducted an online questionnaire survey to collect 405 undergraduates' and postgraduates' DASS-21 scale scores and responses to epidemic prevention knowledge, and analyzed the university students' negative emotions during the epidemic and influencing factors. Results: Of the 405 students surveyed, 178 individuals (44.0%) had depression, 171(42.2%) felt anxious, and 119(29.4%) felt stressed. Individuals in the DASS21+ group spent much time on entertainment on the cell phone daily than those in the DASS21- group (P< 0.001), and the degree of impact by COVID-19 on daily life was significantly higher (P< 0.001). Correlation analysis showed that entertainment time on the cell phone, the severity of COVID-19, and the impact of the epidemic were positively related to DASS-21 scores, with correlation coefficients of 0.231, 0.143 and 0.259, respectively (all P< 0.01). Binary logistic regression analysis found that mobile entertainment time for over 5 hours per day (OR=3.370, 95% CI 1.369-8.294, P=0.008) was a risk factor for negative emotions during quarantine at home. Conclusion: During quarantine at home in the epidemic of COVID-19, nearly half of university students are prone to breed negative emotions, like depression, anxiety or stress, which may be related to long-term mobile phone entertainment.