Increased Mood Disorder Symptoms, Perceived Stress, and Alcohol Use among College Students during the COVID-19 Pandemic
Open accessAbstract
The COVID-19 pandemic caused significant disruption during the spring of 2020. Many college students were told to leave campus at spring break and to complete the semester remotely. This study evaluates effects of this disruption on student well-being. Measures of psychological symptoms, perceived stress, and alcohol use during the pandemic were completed by 148 students in spring 2020 and 352 students in fall 2020 at a university in the southeastern U.S. Results from both cohorts were compared to 240 students who completed the same measures in the fall 2019 semester. Participants in spring 2020 reported more mood disorder symptoms, perceived stress, and alcohol use than did pre-pandemic participants and worry about COVID-19 was negatively associated with well-being. By fall 2020 symptoms had largely returned to pre-pandemic levels. In general, White students reported a greater effect of the pandemic on well-being than did African American students. Young adults appear to be less vulnerable to the most serious medical complications associated with COVID-19, but nonetheless experience psychological effects from the pandemic. Universities and practitioners who work with college students can help young adults manage their symptoms and avoid behaviors like risky alcohol use when confronted with stressors such as the COVID-19 pandemic.
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Evidence indicates that U.S. college students experienced increases in depressive and anxiety symptoms and stress during the Spring and Fall 2020 semesters.
“There is evidence that college students in the U.S. experienced increases in depressive and anxiety symptoms and stress during the Spring and Fall 2020 semesters (Charles et al., 2021; Roche et al., 2022).”
From Using network analysis to examine connections between Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) processes, internalizing symptoms, and well-being in a sample of undergraduates (2023) · cites this paper as Charles et al., 2021
The Discussion reports higher depressive symptoms and perceived stress in spring 2020, but says the predicted increase in anxiety was not found and the detected increases were not present in fall 2020. The claim therefore overstates which symptoms increased and when. (LLM, conf=0.90)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredThere has been an observed increase in these unhealthy lifestyles and behaviors following the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Because of this, and also due to the observed increase in these unhealthy lifestyles and behaviors following the COVID-19 pandemic [60,61,62]”
From Protocol for a Randomized Controlled Trial Testing the Efficacy of a Transdiagnostic Virtual Reality-Based Intervention for the Reduction of Unhealthy Lifestyles and Behaviors in the General Population (2023) · cites this paper as [61]
The Discussion reports higher alcohol misuse among college students surveyed in the initial weeks of the pandemic than among those surveyed before it. That supports an increase in one unhealthy behavior during the pandemic, but the paper’s own findings do not establish a broader increase in unhealthy lifestyles or an increase after the pandemic; it says levels had largely returned to typical by fall 2020. (LLM, conf=0.85)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measured
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- Authors
- Charles, N. E., Strong, S. J., Burns, L. C., Bullerjahn, M. R., & Serafine, K. M.
- Affiliations
- University of Southern Mississippi (US)
- The University of Texas at El Paso (US)
- Corresponding author
- Charles, Nora E.
- ORCID
- Venue
- Psychiatry Research
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2021-02
- Volume
- 296
- Pages
- 113706
- ISSN
- 0165-1781 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC7781902
- OpenAlex
- W3120574460
- Cited by
- 459
- References
- 66
- Citations by year
- 2026: 14 · 2025: 28 · 2024: 65 · 2023: 124 · 2022: 146 · 2021: 78 · 2020: 4
- FWCI
- 70.60
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Psychiatry Research (publishedVersion)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Aquila Digital Community (University of Southern Mississippi) (submittedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
- PsyArXiv (OSF Preprints) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- PsyArXiv (OSF Preprints) (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › COVID-19 and Mental Health
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Developmental and Educational Psychology › Student Stress and Coping
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Maternal Mental Health During Pregnancy and Postpartum
- Keywords
- COVID-19 pandemic, university students, perceived stress, alcohol consumption, student well-being, COVID-19 worry, racial disparities, African American students, distance education, young adults
- MeSH terms
- Alcohol Drinking in College, COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2, Adolescent, Fear, Female, Humans, Male, Risk Factors, Stress, Psychological, Southeastern United States, Mood Disorders, Young Adult
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