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Objectives: To investigate the prevalence and risk factors for poor mental health Chinese university students during the COVID-19 pandemic. Method: Chinese nation-wide on-line cross-sectional survey on university students, collected between February 12th and 17th, 2020. Primary outcome was prevalence of clinically-relevant post traumatic stress disorders symptoms. Secondary outcomes on poor mental health included prevalence of clinically-relevant anxiety and depressive symptoms, while post traumatic growth was considered as indicator of effective coping reaction. Results: Of 2,500 invited Chinese university students, 2,038 completed the survey. Prevalence of clinically-relevant PTSD, anxiety and depressive, symptoms, and PTG were 30.8%, 15.5%, 23.3%, and 66.9% respectively. Older age, knowing people who had been isolated, more ACEs, higher level of anxious attachment, and lower level of resilience all predicted primary outcome (all p < 0.01). Conclusions: A significant proportion of young adults exhibit clinically relevant PTSD, anxious or depressive symptoms, but a larger portion of individuals showed to effectively cope with COVID-19 pandemic. Interventions promoting resilience should be provided, even remotely, to those subjects with specific risk factors to develop poor mental health during COVID-19 or other pandemics with social isolation.
Chi et al. (Fri,) studied this question.