Mental health, stress and coping with stress among students in COVID-19 pandemic

Cilj ovog istraživanja bio je ispitati psihičko zdravlje, opisati osobne resurse i prepoznati izazove studenata za vrijeme pandemije COVID-19. Podaci su prikupljani u svibnju 2020. godine postupkom online anketiranja, a u anketi je sudjelovalo 422 studenata, od kojih je 88% bilo ženskog roda. Rezultati pokazuju da su najzastupljenije akademske brige bile polaganje ispita i kolokvija, uspješan završetak akademske godine te psihičko stanje zbog stresa. Prijavljene su smetnje samoregulacije kod 61% studenata, dok je poteškoće s koncentracijom imalo 41% njih. Većina studenata doživjela je u prosjeku osam stresnih događaja, dok je više od polovice njih doživjelo između šest i deset stresnih događaja. Osiromašen društveni život i mjere preporučene karantene djelovale su kao stresan događaj kod 81% studenata. Dvije trećine ispitanih studenata doživjelo je jak potres u Zagrebu. Studenti su najčešće koristili strategije suočavanja usmjerene na problem te je 84% studenata bilo optimistično glede budućnosti. Nadalje, pokazalo se da studenti imaju narušeno psihičko zdravlje, odnosno više razine depresivnosti, anksioznosti i stresa u odnosu na norme studentske populacije. Ozbiljne i vrlo ozbiljne smetnje depresivnosti ima 23% studenata, smetnje anksioznosti 18% i stresa 21%. Modeli predviđanja depresivnosti, anksioznosti i stresa pokazali su se vrlo uspješnima. Iz dobivenih rezultata vidljivo je da su studentske teškoće, intenzitet stresnih situacija, suočavanje usmjereno na emocije te optimizam značajni prediktori u predviđanju razina depresivnosti, anksioznosti i stresa studenata. Također, studenti nižih godina studija bili su anksiozniji i u većem stresu u odnosu na studente viših godina. Rezultati su pokazali da su studentice bile anksioznije u odnosu na studente.The aim of this study is to examine the mental health, describe personal resources and recognize challenges of students during the COVID-19 pandemic. Data were collected in May 2020 through an online survey. 422 students participated in the survey, and 88% were female. The results have shown that the most common academic worries were taking exams, the successful completion of the academic year and the mental state due to stress. Problems with self-regulation were reported in 61% of students, while 41% of them had difficulties in concentrating. Most students had experienced an average of eight stressful events, while more than a half of them had experienced between six and ten stressful events. An impoverished social life and the recommended quarantine measures had a stressful effect on 81% of the students. Two thirds of the surveyed students had experienced a strong earthquake in Zagreb. Students most often used problem-oriented coping strategies and 84% of students were optimistic about the future. Students also showed to have impaired mental health, that is higher levels of depression, anxiety and stress relative to the norms of the student population. 23% of students had severe and very serious symptoms of depression, 18% had symptoms of anxiety and 21% had symptoms of stress. Models for predicting depression, anxiety and stress have proven to be very successful. The results show that student difficulties, the intensity of stressful situations, coping focused on emotions and optimism are significant predictors in predicting the levels of depression, anxiety and stress of students. Also, lower-year students were more anxious and under more stress than older students. The results showed that female students were more anxious than male students