Depressive symptoms among Slovenian female tertiary students before and during the COVID-19 pandemic

analysis of two repeated cross-sectional surveys in 2020 and 2021

Povzetek

The COVID-19 pandemic has adversely affected the mental health of the general population. This holds true especially for vulnerable groups, including young people, students, and females. Our study examined cross-sectional changes in depressive symptoms from immediately before the COVID-19 pandemic (January/February 2020) to the second wave of the epidemic in Slovenia (January/February 2021) among female tertiary students. A multivariate analysis of two repeated cross-sectional surveys was performed using relatively homogeneous samples. The pooled sample included 418 young adult female students (Mage = 21.21 years). Depressed affect items were used to measure depressive symptomatology. All three feelings indicating depressed affect increased substantially and significantly from 2020 to 2021: feeling depressed (23% vs. 38%), lonely (16% vs. 43%), and sad (21% vs. 49%). In 2021, female students had almost a three-fold increase in the odds of reporting at least two out of three depressed affect symptoms compared to 2020 (19% vs. 43%; aOR 2.97; 95% CI 1.59–5.54; p < 0.001), adjusted for sociodemographic and socioeconomic confounders. Our findings suggest that Slovenian female students’ mental health deteriorated during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. Public health professionals’ efforts to combat the pandemic’s mental health-related negative short-term and potential long-term impacts should thus focus on young people, especially on younger female students.

Ključne besede

simptomi depresivnosti;depresija;študenti;covid-19;duševno zdravje;pandemija;ne zaključna dela;depressive symptoms;depressed affect;students;mental health;pandemic;

Podatki

Jezik:	Angleški jezik
Leto izida:	2023
Tipologija:	1.01 - Izvirni znanstveni članek
Organizacija:	UM FF - Filozofska fakulteta
Založnik:	MDPI
UDK:	316.346.32:159.974
COBISS:	165088259
ISSN:	2071-1050
Št. ogledov:	108
Št. prenosov:	2
Ocena:	0 (0 glasov)
Metapodatki:

Ostali podatki

Sekundarni jezik:	Slovenski jezik
Sekundarne ključne besede:	Depresija (psihologija);Študentke;SARS-CoV-2 (virus);Covid-19;Slovenija;
Vrsta dela (COBISS):	Članek v reviji
Strani:	str. 1-13
Letnik:	ǂVol. ǂ15
Zvezek:	ǂiss. ǂ18
Čas izdaje:	2023
DOI:	10.3390/su151813776
ID:	23385009