Perceived stress among university students in south-east Serbia during the COVID-19 outbreak
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Abstract
BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic has brought into focus the mental health of the student population. The study aimed to analyze the psychological response to the COVID-19 outbreak in terms of perceived stress and its related factors among university students in south-east Serbia. The study was conducted during the increased incidence of COVID-19 in Serbia. METHOD: A total of 434 students from the public university in south-east Serbia enrolled in the study and completed the measures of socio-demographic data, the perceived stress scale (PSS-10), the Coping Strategy Indicator (CSI) and the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-28). The data were analyzed through quantitative and qualitative methods. RESULTS: Study findings suggest that the mean perceived stress score was placed to 20.43 (± 7.67). Our model showed that female gender, higher scores on anxiety/insomnia and depression subscale as well as the coping strategy avoidance predicted higher perceived stress, while higher scores on social dysfunction were related to the reduced perceived stress scores. CONCLUSION: Notwithstanding the study limitation, findings provided authentic data of stress reactions of the students in south-east Serbia during the COVID-19 outbreak. The findings confirm the need to examine students' experiences in emergencies and crises, as well as to make a plan for online stress management programs that would help alleviate stress during a global pandemic.
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At the onset of the pandemic, 64.5% of students reported symptoms of depression, 66.8% severe levels of anxiety, and 66.7% extremely severe symptoms of stress (24).
“at the onset of the pandemic, 64.5% of students reported the symptoms of depression, 66.8% severe levels of anxiety, and 66.7% extremely severe symptoms of stress (24).”
From Mental health status and coping strategies during COVID-19 pandemic among university students in Central Serbia (2023) · cites this paper as [24]
The Results (page unavailable) describe the students’ average perceived stress as moderate, rather than extremely severe; the Discussion reports psychological distress in 48.83% of students. Our copy does not report the cited percentages for depression, severe anxiety, or extremely severe stress. (LLM, conf=0.78)
Checked by a reasoning model — may be wrong.
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredLevels of stress, depression, and anxiety declined compared to the beginning of the pandemic.
“if these results are compared to the findings of one study conducted at the beginning of the pandemic, we can observe that levels of stress, depression, and anxiety declined.”
From Mental health status and coping strategies during COVID-19 pandemic among university students in Central Serbia (2023) · cites this paper as [24]
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Radovanovic, J., Selakovic, V., Mihaljevic, O., Djordjevic, J., Čolović, S., Djordjevic, J. R., Janjic, V., Jovicic, M., Veselinovic, S., Vukomanovic, I. S., et al. (2023) · Frontiers in Psychiatry · doi:10.3389/fpsyt.2023.1226836 · Cited by 10 · see citing works
“Reportedly, at the onset of the pandemic, 64.5% of students reported the symptoms of depression, 66.8% severe levels of anxiety, and 66.7% extremely severe symptoms of stress (24).”
BackgroundInfluential
- Authors
- Kostić, J., Žikić, O., Đorđević, V., & Krivokapić, Ž.
- Affiliations
- University of Nis (RS)
- Sekolah Tinggi Ilmu Kesehatan Yogyakarta (ID)
- Corresponding author
- Kostić, Jelena
- Venue
- Annals of General Psychiatry
- Published
- 2021-04-07
- Volume
- 20
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 25-25
- ISSN
- 1744-859X (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC8025737
- OpenAlex
- W3118952121
- Cited by
- 41
- References
- 40
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2025: 2 · 2024: 6 · 2023: 13 · 2022: 11 · 2021: 8
- FWCI
- 6.48
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Locations
- Annals of General Psychiatry (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- Research Square (acceptedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › COVID-19 and Mental Health
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Developmental and Educational Psychology › Student Stress and Coping
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › General Health Professions › Healthcare professionals’ stress and burnout
- Keywords
- perceived stress, university students, COVID-19 pandemic, student mental health, coping strategies, avoidance coping, anxiety, depression, insomnia, social dysfunction
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