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Mental health status and coping strategies during COVID-19 pandemic among university students in Central Serbia

BACKGROUND: The objective of this research was to evaluate the occurrence of depression, anxiety, and stress, as well as the level of life contentment and coping mechanisms employed by college students amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. METHODS: A total of 588 students of the Faculty of Mechanical Engine...

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Autores principales: Radovanovic, Jovana, Selakovic, Viktor, Mihaljevic, Olgica, Djordjevic, Jelena, Čolović, Sofija, Djordjevic, Jelena R., Janjic, Vladimir, Jovicic, Milena, Veselinovic, Sladjana, Vukomanovic, Ivana Simic, Janicijevic, Katarina, Slovic, Zivana, Radovanovic, Snezana, Djordjevic, Ognjen, Djordjic, Milan
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Frontiers Media S.A. 2023
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10634511/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/37953939
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2023.1226836
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author Radovanovic, Jovana
Selakovic, Viktor
Mihaljevic, Olgica
Djordjevic, Jelena
Čolović, Sofija
Djordjevic, Jelena R.
Janjic, Vladimir
Jovicic, Milena
Veselinovic, Sladjana
Vukomanovic, Ivana Simic
Janicijevic, Katarina
Slovic, Zivana
Radovanovic, Snezana
Djordjevic, Ognjen
Djordjic, Milan
author_facet Radovanovic, Jovana
Selakovic, Viktor
Mihaljevic, Olgica
Djordjevic, Jelena
Čolović, Sofija
Djordjevic, Jelena R.
Janjic, Vladimir
Jovicic, Milena
Veselinovic, Sladjana
Vukomanovic, Ivana Simic
Janicijevic, Katarina
Slovic, Zivana
Radovanovic, Snezana
Djordjevic, Ognjen
Djordjic, Milan
author_sort Radovanovic, Jovana
collection PubMed
description BACKGROUND: The objective of this research was to evaluate the occurrence of depression, anxiety, and stress, as well as the level of life contentment and coping mechanisms employed by college students amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. METHODS: A total of 588 students of the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering and the Higher School of Medicine, Kraljevo, University of Kragujevac, Central Serbia, participated in an online cross-sectional survey in the period September–October 2022. Depression Anxiety Stress Scales (DASS-21) was used to measure the levels of depression, anxiety, and stress. The Coping Questionnaire—a shorter version (Brief Cope Inventories) assesses the coping strategies a person uses in stressful situations, and the 5-item Life Satisfaction Scale is used to examine the level of life satisfaction. RESULTS: The symptoms of depression were reported by 34.9%, of anxiety by 47.1% and of stress by 44.2%. The type of faculty (p = 0.001), and place of residence (p = 0.036) correlated with depression, gender with anxiety (p = 0.001) and stress (p = 0.015). In terms of coping mechanisms, the most frequently mentioned strategies, based on average scores, were acceptance (5.76), positive interpretation (5.55), humor (5.46). CONCLUSION: The adverse impact of COVID-19 was a risk factor for depression, anxiety and stress symptoms. A negative correlation exists between the levels of depression, anxiety, and stress, and the overall life satisfaction of university students. Offering the necessary assistance through psychological interventions and effective coping techniques is crucial in ensuring the optimal mental health of university students.
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spelling pubmed-106345112023-11-10 Mental health status and coping strategies during COVID-19 pandemic among university students in Central Serbia Radovanovic, Jovana Selakovic, Viktor Mihaljevic, Olgica Djordjevic, Jelena Čolović, Sofija Djordjevic, Jelena R. Janjic, Vladimir Jovicic, Milena Veselinovic, Sladjana Vukomanovic, Ivana Simic Janicijevic, Katarina Slovic, Zivana Radovanovic, Snezana Djordjevic, Ognjen Djordjic, Milan Front Psychiatry Psychiatry BACKGROUND: The objective of this research was to evaluate the occurrence of depression, anxiety, and stress, as well as the level of life contentment and coping mechanisms employed by college students amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. METHODS: A total of 588 students of the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering and the Higher School of Medicine, Kraljevo, University of Kragujevac, Central Serbia, participated in an online cross-sectional survey in the period September–October 2022. Depression Anxiety Stress Scales (DASS-21) was used to measure the levels of depression, anxiety, and stress. The Coping Questionnaire—a shorter version (Brief Cope Inventories) assesses the coping strategies a person uses in stressful situations, and the 5-item Life Satisfaction Scale is used to examine the level of life satisfaction. RESULTS: The symptoms of depression were reported by 34.9%, of anxiety by 47.1% and of stress by 44.2%. The type of faculty (p = 0.001), and place of residence (p = 0.036) correlated with depression, gender with anxiety (p = 0.001) and stress (p = 0.015). In terms of coping mechanisms, the most frequently mentioned strategies, based on average scores, were acceptance (5.76), positive interpretation (5.55), humor (5.46). CONCLUSION: The adverse impact of COVID-19 was a risk factor for depression, anxiety and stress symptoms. A negative correlation exists between the levels of depression, anxiety, and stress, and the overall life satisfaction of university students. Offering the necessary assistance through psychological interventions and effective coping techniques is crucial in ensuring the optimal mental health of university students. Frontiers Media S.A. 2023-10-25 /pmc/articles/PMC10634511/ /pubmed/37953939 http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2023.1226836 Text en Copyright © 2023 Radovanovic, Selakovic, Mihaljevic, Djordjevic, Čolović, Djordjevic, Janjic, Jovicic, Veselinovic, Vukomanovic, Janicijevic, Slovic, Radovanovic, Djordjevic and Djordjic. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
spellingShingle Psychiatry
Radovanovic, Jovana
Selakovic, Viktor
Mihaljevic, Olgica
Djordjevic, Jelena
Čolović, Sofija
Djordjevic, Jelena R.
Janjic, Vladimir
Jovicic, Milena
Veselinovic, Sladjana
Vukomanovic, Ivana Simic
Janicijevic, Katarina
Slovic, Zivana
Radovanovic, Snezana
Djordjevic, Ognjen
Djordjic, Milan
Mental health status and coping strategies during COVID-19 pandemic among university students in Central Serbia
title Mental health status and coping strategies during COVID-19 pandemic among university students in Central Serbia
title_full Mental health status and coping strategies during COVID-19 pandemic among university students in Central Serbia
title_fullStr Mental health status and coping strategies during COVID-19 pandemic among university students in Central Serbia
title_full_unstemmed Mental health status and coping strategies during COVID-19 pandemic among university students in Central Serbia
title_short Mental health status and coping strategies during COVID-19 pandemic among university students in Central Serbia
title_sort mental health status and coping strategies during covid-19 pandemic among university students in central serbia
topic Psychiatry
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10634511/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/37953939
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2023.1226836
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