Cited by 888COVID-19 and Mental HealthStudent Stress and CopingMaternal Mental Health During Pregnancy and Postpartum

Psychological impacts from COVID-19 among university students: Risk factors across seven states in the United States

Open access
Browning, Matthew H. E. M., Larson, Lincoln R., Sharaievska, Iryna, Rigolon, Alessandro, McAnirlin, Olivia, Mullenbach, Lauren, Cloutier, Scott, Vu, Tue M. +7 more·2021·PLOS ONE

Abstract

Background: University students are increasingly recognized as a vulnerable population, suffering from higher levels of anxiety, depression, substance abuse, and disordered eating compared to the general population. Therefore, when the nature of their educational experience radically changes—such as sheltering in place during the COVID-19 pandemic—the burden on the mental health of this vulnerable population is amplified. The objectives of this study are to 1) identify the array of psychological impacts COVID-19 has on students, 2) develop profiles to characterize students' anticipated levels of psychological impact during the pandemic, and 3) evaluate potential sociodemographic, lifestyle-related, and awareness of people infected with COVID-19 risk factors that could make students more likely to experience these impacts. Methods: Cross-sectional data were collected through web-based questionnaires from seven U.S. universities. Representative and convenience sampling was used to invite students to complete the questionnaires in mid-March to early-May 2020, when most coronavirus-related sheltering in place orders were in effect. We received 2,534 completed responses, of which 61% were from women, 79% from non-Hispanic Whites, and 20% from graduate students. Results: Exploratory factor analysis on close-ended responses resulted in two latent constructs, which we used to identify profiles of students with latent profile analysis, including high (45% of sample), moderate (40%), and low (14%) levels of psychological impact. Bivariate associations showed students who were women, were non-Hispanic Asian, in fair/poor health, of below-average relative family income, or who knew someone infected with COVID-19 experienced higher levels of psychological impact. Students who were non-Hispanic White, above-average social class, spent at least two hours outside, or less than eight hours on electronic screens were likely to experience lower levels of psychological impact. Multivariate modeling (mixed-effects logistic regression) showed that being a woman, having fair/poor general health status, being 18 to 24 years old, spending 8 or more hours on screens daily, and knowing someone infected predicted higher levels of psychological impact when risk factors were considered simultaneously. Conclusion: Inadequate efforts to recognize and address college students’ mental health challenges, especially during a pandemic, could have long-term consequences on their health and education.

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1371/journal.pone.0245327

Cites

125 of 128 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Claims the paper makes

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Claims other papers make about this one

Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?

Self-check

Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.

The self-check needs the paper’s full text.

Cites

Flagged first, then by citations

Research works printed but not linked: 6

  1. [8]Hollyfield A. Coronavirus impact: Suicides on the rise amid shelter-in-place order, Bay Area medical professionals say In: abcnews.com [Internet]. May 2020 [cited 23 Jun 2020] pp. 1– 4. Available: https://abc7news.com/suicide-covid-19-coronavirus-rates-during-pandemic-death-by/6201962/
  2. [13]Gruttadaro D, Crudo D. College students speak: A survey on mental health [Internet]. National Alliance on Mental Health Fairfax, VA; 2012 11 pp. 1– 24. Available: https://www.nami.org/Support-Education/Publications-Reports/Survey-Reports/College-Students-Speak_A-Survey-Report-on-Mental-H
  3. [19]The Power of International Education. Number of International Students in the United States Hits All-Time High [Internet]. 10 Sep 2020 pp. 1– 5. Available: https://www.iie.org/en/Why-IIE/Announcements/2019/11/Number-of-International-Students-in-the-United-States-Hits-All-Time-High
  4. [36]Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Healthy Days Core Module: HRQOL-14 Measure. In: cdc.gov. 31 10 2018 pp. 1– 10.
  5. [66]Nash J. Stress and diabetes: The use of “worry time” as a way of managing stress. Journal of Diabetes Nursing. 2014; 18: 329– 332.
  6. [126]UNESCO. School closures caused by Coronavirus (Covid-19) In: en.unesco.org. 11 9 2020 pp. 1– 4.

Cited by

Sorted by citations

Authors
Browning, M. H. E. M., Larson, L. R., Sharaievska, I., Rigolon, A., McAnirlin, O., Mullenbach, L., Cloutier, S., Vu, T. M., Thomsen, J., Reigner, N., Metcalf, E. C., D'Antonio, A., Helbich, M., Bratman, G. N., & Alvarez, H. O.
Affiliations
  • Clemson University (US)
  • North Carolina State University (US)
  • University of Utah (US)
  • Arizona State University (US)
  • University of Montana (US)
  • Pennsylvania State University (US)
  • Utrecht University (NL)
  • University of Washington (US)
Corresponding author
Browning, Matthew H. E. M.
Venue
PLOS ONE
Published
2021-01-07
Volume
16
Issue
1
Pages
e0245327
ISSN
1932-6203 (ISSN-L)
OpenAlex
W3118613563
Cited by
888
References
125
Citations by year
2026: 23 · 2025: 71 · 2024: 133 · 2023: 222 · 2022: 279 · 2021: 159 · 2013: 1
FWCI
135.73
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • PLoS ONE (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • TigerPrints (Clemson University) (submittedVersion)
  • RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
  • DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
  • Utrecht University Repository (Utrecht University) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
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, student mental health, psychological impact, risk factors, anxiety, depression, substance abuse, disordered eating, sheltering in place, sociodemographic factors, health status, screen time, latent profiles, gender differences
MeSH terms
Social Factors, COVID-19, Adult, Cross-Sectional Studies, Female, Humans, Male, Mental Health, Middle Aged, Risk Factors, Students, United States, Universities, Young Adult

About these checks

Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.

Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.

Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.

What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›

Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review