Mental Health Problems among University Students under the Prolonged COVID-19 Pandemic in Japan: A Repeated Cross-Sectional Survey

Mental Health Problems among University Students under the Prolonged COVID-19 Pandemic in Japan: A Repeated Cross-Sectional Survey

Moe Seto,¹ Hitomi Usukura,^2,3 Yasuto Kunii,⁴ Yumiko Hamaie,⁴ Eiichi N. Kodama,^5,6 Yuko Makino,⁶ Yoshitaka Kinouchi,⁷ Chihiro Ito,⁷ Tadayoshi Ikeda⁷ and Hiroaki Tomita^1,2,4

¹Department of Psychiatry, Tohoku University Hospital, Sendai, Miyagi, Japan
²Department of Psychiatry, Tohoku University Graduate School of Medicine, Sendai, Miyagi, Japan
³Department of Psychology and Behavioral Sciences, Faculty of Human Sciences, Tohoku Gakuin University, Sendai, Miyagi, Japan
⁴Department of Disaster Psychiatry, International Research Institute of Disaster Science, Tohoku University, Sendai, Miyagi, Japan
⁵Department of Infectious Diseases, International Research Institute of Disaster Science, Tohoku University, Sendai, Miyagi, Japan
⁶Department of Infectious Diseases, Tohoku University Graduate School of Medicine, Sendai, Miyagi, Japan
⁷Institute for Excellence in Higher Education, Tohoku University, Sendai, Miyagi, Japan

Numerous studies have investigated the impact of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic on mental health among university students within a year of its onset, but few have examined the impact of a prolonged pandemic on university life. This study aimed to evaluate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the mental health of students in a large university community. Online questionnaire surveys were conducted on students from March 24 to April 14 (first survey, n = 3,357) and December 2-23, 2021 (second survey, n = 2,604). The questionnaires included items on demographic data, living conditions, and mental health status as measured using the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 for depressive symptoms and the Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 scale for anxiety symptoms. The results showed that, compared with undergraduate students, graduate students, except those in Medicine, Dentistry, and Pharmaceutical Science courses, had more anxiety symptoms. Furthermore, among undergraduate students, depressive and anxiety symptoms were significantly higher in fourth- than in first-year students. Logistic regression analyses of data from both surveys revealed the seven risk factors associated with depressive or anxiety symptoms that affected the mental health of university students throughout the COVID-19 pandemic: 1) female or nonbinary gender, 2) graduate student, 3) quarantine experience due to COVID-19, 4) isolation from friends and acquaintances, 5) disorganized pattern of daily life, 6) worse financial situation, and 7) no availability of consultations regarding health, life, and finances. These findings suggest that mental health measures for university students need to be designed specific to each course.

Key words —— anxiety symptoms; COVID-19 pandemic; depressive symptoms; university students

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Tohoku J. Exp. Med 2023 May, 260(1), 1-11.

Correspondence: Hiroaki Tomita, M.D., Ph.D., Department of Psychiatry, Tohoku University Graduate School of Medicine, 1-1 Seiryo-machi, Aoba-ku, Sendai, Miyagi 980-8574, Japan.

e-mail: htomita@med.tohoku.ac.jp