Korean University Students’ Problematic Alcohol use, Depression, and Non-Suicidal Self-Injury During COVID-19 Lockdown

BACKGROUND: This study investigated depression, problematic alcohol use, and non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) of university students in Korea during COVID-19 lockdown and evaluated the moderating effect of problematic alcohol use in the relationship between depression and NSSI. METHODS: In this descriptive cross-sectional study, 234 Korean university students’ data were used to analyze the relationship between depression and NSSI and the moderating effect of problematic alcohol use. To analyze the moderating effect, Hayes PROCESS macro (model 1) was used. RESULTS: Of the participants, 69.7% were problematic alcohol drinkers and 58.1% were binge drinkers. Depression and NSSI scores were 13.948 and 0.901, respectively. Of the participants, 33.3% had experienced NSSI for 6 months. Depression was positively associated with NSSI among university students. Furthermore, problematic alcohol use had a conditional moderating effect on the relationship between depression and NSSI. CONCLUSIONS: Problematic alcohol use had conditional moderating effects on the relationship between depression and NSSI. Additionally, since the COVID-19 pandemic is ongoing, to prevent NSSI, health care professionals in the university should screen students with problematic alcohol use and depressive symptoms.