The COVID-19 pandemic impacts psychiatric outcomes and alcohol use among college students

BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic has imposed fundamental challenges on nearly every area of life. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of the current study was to expand on the literature on the impact of the pandemic on college students by a) examining domains of impact of the pandemic on psychiatric and alcohol outcomes and b) controlling for pre-pandemic outcomes. METHOD: Participants included 897 college students (78.6% female) from a larger longitudinal study on college student mental health. Structural equation models were fit to examine how COVID-19 impact (exposure, worry, food/housing insecurity, change in social media use, change in substance use) were associated with PTSD, anxiety, depression, suicidal ideation, and alcohol phenotypes. Models were fit to adjust for pre-pandemic symptoms. RESULTS: No effects of COVID-19 exposure remained after adjusting for earlier outcomes. COVID-19 worry predicted PTSD, depression, and anxiety, even after adjusting for earlier levels of outcomes (β’s: .091–.180, p’s < .05). Housing/food concerns predicted PTSD, anxiety, and depression symptoms as well as suicidal ideation (β’s: .085–.551, p’s < .05) after adjusting for earlier levels of symptoms. Change in media use predicted alcohol consumption (β’s: ± .116−.197, p’s < .05). Change in substance use affected all outcomes except suicidality (β’s: .112–.591, p’s < .05). CONCLUSIONS: Domains of COVID-19 impact had differential effects on mental health and substance outcomes in college students during the first wave of the coronavirus pandemic. Future studies should examine the trajectory of these factors on college student mental health across waves of the pandemic.