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“COVID Is Another Layer of Problematic Things”: Change, Vulnerability, and COVID-19 among University Students

The COVID-19 pandemic not only had detrimental effects on physical health but also had adverse effects on college students’ mental health. This paper begins to fill a gap in knowledge related to the contextual factors that impacted college students’ mental health during COVID. Using in-depth intervi...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: David, Ifeolu, Schatz, Enid, Myroniuk, Tyler W., Teti, Michelle
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2022
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9739650/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36498021
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph192315947
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author David, Ifeolu
Schatz, Enid
Myroniuk, Tyler W.
Teti, Michelle
author_facet David, Ifeolu
Schatz, Enid
Myroniuk, Tyler W.
Teti, Michelle
author_sort David, Ifeolu
collection PubMed
description The COVID-19 pandemic not only had detrimental effects on physical health but also had adverse effects on college students’ mental health. This paper begins to fill a gap in knowledge related to the contextual factors that impacted college students’ mental health during COVID. Using in-depth interviews with a diverse sample of 33 college students at a Midwestern university, during Spring 2021, we highlight the pandemic’s role in shaping college students’ mental health and their outlook of the future. Thematic analysis revealed student reports of mental health decline during the pandemic attributed to campus closures and social distancing policies implemented by the institution to reduce the spread of COVID-19. Students shared that the pandemic created uncertainties about their future opportunities for education, career fulfillment, and employment. However, the interviews also suggested a general sense of adaptation to the pandemic’s impact which was students achieved via a combination of active and passive coping strategies. Expanding institution-based mental health services to include a variety of modalities and off-line toolkits for students can help students cope with mental health challenges, whether in ‘normal times’ or during national crises. Future research should focus on identifying strategies for promoting mental wellness among college students and exploring post-pandemic mental health wellbeing.
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spelling pubmed-97396502022-12-11 “COVID Is Another Layer of Problematic Things”: Change, Vulnerability, and COVID-19 among University Students David, Ifeolu Schatz, Enid Myroniuk, Tyler W. Teti, Michelle Int J Environ Res Public Health Article The COVID-19 pandemic not only had detrimental effects on physical health but also had adverse effects on college students’ mental health. This paper begins to fill a gap in knowledge related to the contextual factors that impacted college students’ mental health during COVID. Using in-depth interviews with a diverse sample of 33 college students at a Midwestern university, during Spring 2021, we highlight the pandemic’s role in shaping college students’ mental health and their outlook of the future. Thematic analysis revealed student reports of mental health decline during the pandemic attributed to campus closures and social distancing policies implemented by the institution to reduce the spread of COVID-19. Students shared that the pandemic created uncertainties about their future opportunities for education, career fulfillment, and employment. However, the interviews also suggested a general sense of adaptation to the pandemic’s impact which was students achieved via a combination of active and passive coping strategies. Expanding institution-based mental health services to include a variety of modalities and off-line toolkits for students can help students cope with mental health challenges, whether in ‘normal times’ or during national crises. Future research should focus on identifying strategies for promoting mental wellness among college students and exploring post-pandemic mental health wellbeing. MDPI 2022-11-30 /pmc/articles/PMC9739650/ /pubmed/36498021 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph192315947 Text en © 2022 by the authors. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
spellingShingle Article
David, Ifeolu
Schatz, Enid
Myroniuk, Tyler W.
Teti, Michelle
“COVID Is Another Layer of Problematic Things”: Change, Vulnerability, and COVID-19 among University Students
title “COVID Is Another Layer of Problematic Things”: Change, Vulnerability, and COVID-19 among University Students
title_full “COVID Is Another Layer of Problematic Things”: Change, Vulnerability, and COVID-19 among University Students
title_fullStr “COVID Is Another Layer of Problematic Things”: Change, Vulnerability, and COVID-19 among University Students
title_full_unstemmed “COVID Is Another Layer of Problematic Things”: Change, Vulnerability, and COVID-19 among University Students
title_short “COVID Is Another Layer of Problematic Things”: Change, Vulnerability, and COVID-19 among University Students
title_sort “covid is another layer of problematic things”: change, vulnerability, and covid-19 among university students
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9739650/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36498021
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph192315947
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