Purpose in Life and Character Strengths as Predictors of Health Sciences Students' Psychopathology During the COVID-19 Pandemic.
Front Psychiatry
; 13: 932249, 2022.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-2240436
ABSTRACT
Background:
Health sciences students experience high levels of psychopathology conditioned by psychosocial, financial, and academic factors. However, COVID-19 pandemic might even have worsened their mental health. Thus, this article aims to evaluate how the exposure to COVID-19 pandemic has affected these students' mental health and to determine the effect of purpose in life and character strengths on this psychopathology.Methods:
A cross-sectional study of unpaired samples was carried out in Spain during the first and third waves of the pandemic in 70 medical and 52 nursing students.Results:
The risk factor that most determined the appearance of anxiety was the exposure of family and friends to COVID-19 (OR = 4.01; p < 0.001), while the most protective factors were honesty (OR = -1.14; p = 0.025) and purpose in life (OR = -0.18; p < 0.001). Purpose in life also protected against the onset of depression and total psychopathology. In addition, we observed studying medicine was a protective factor against total psychopathology while being a nursing student was associated with high levels of acute stress.Conclusion:
Exposure of the students' family and friends to SARS-CoV-2 favored the appearance of symptoms of anxiety. Honesty had a preventing role in the onset of anxiety and a high purpose in life was protective against the appearance of anxiety, depression, and total psychopathology.
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Type of study:
Etiology study
/
Experimental Studies
/
Observational study
/
Prognostic study
/
Randomized controlled trials
Language:
English
Journal:
Front Psychiatry
Year:
2022
Document Type:
Article
Affiliation country:
Fpsyt.2022.932249
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