Association between COVID-19-related loneliness or worry and symptoms of anxiety and depression among first-year college students.

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    • Subject Terms:
      PSYCHOLOGY of college students; CONFIDENCE intervals; MULTIPLE regression analysis; LONELINESS; MENTAL depression; QUESTIONNAIRES; SYMPTOMS; DESCRIPTIVE statistics; RESEARCH funding; WORRY; ANXIETY; STAY-at-home orders; ODDS ratio; COVID-19 pandemic; LONGITUDINAL method; PSYCHOLOGICAL distress
    • Subject Terms:
      UNITED States
    • Abstract:
      To examine the relationship between COVID-19-related distress and mental health among first-year college students. Data for this longitudinal study (n = 727) were collected before the school year (August 2019), end of fall semester (December 2019), and soon after the university suspended in-person instruction (April 2020). We used multivariable log-linear and logistic regressions to examine continuous and dichotomous outcomes on the 9-item Patient Health Questionnaire and the 7-item Generalized Anxiety Disorder scale. The most consistent predictor of during-pandemic mental health was feeling extremely isolated (versus not at all), which was associated with increased symptom severity of depression (proportional change[95% CI] = 2.43[1.87, 3.15]) and anxiety (2.02[1.50, 2.73]) and greater odds of new moderate depression (OR[95% CI] = 14.83[3.00, 73.41]) and anxiety (24.74[2.91, 210.00]). Greater COVID-19-related concern was also related to increased mental health symptoms. Results highlight the need for mental health services during crises that lead to social isolation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
    • Abstract:
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