Introduction:
In March 2020, the United States of America declared a lockdown to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. In doing so, schools and universities were all shut down and moved into online learning. During this time, students were stuck at home and had no real interaction with others for a while. The lockdown took a toll on many individuals’ physical health. However, many students were also experiencing different effects on their mental health, mainly negative ones. Previous studies have conducted experiments that identified the impact the lockdown had on the mental/psychological health of students. Students were experiencing anxiety, depression, suicidal thoughts, and much more. Other studies assessed the different challenges students could be going through that impacted their mental health. Nonetheless, many studies lacked solutions for these stressors that impacted the students. The purpose of this study is to identify the certain stressors that occurred in lockdown that impacted the mental health of college students the most, especially students of those in the United States. By identifying these certain stressors, we’ll be able to find solutions to lessen the impact they have on students’ mental health if a future lockdown were to occur.
Background:
Mental health revolves around our emotional, psychological, and social well-being. It affects the way we think, feel, and act in our everyday lives. Common mental health issues include anxiety disorders, depression, PTSD, mood disorders, and much more. Everyone is at risk of developing a mental health disorder which is why it is important to have positive mental health throughout your lifetime as it allows one to work productively and cope with certain stressors. The mental health crisis in adolescents is one of the biggest issues in the United States right now. Accordingly, during the COVID-19 lockdown, many students began to encounter mental health issues that impacted their day-to-day life and academics. As stated, “A mixed-methods study done at a public college in the United States found that 71% of the respondents had higher stress and anxiety with associated stressors of fear, worry, lack of concentration, and disruption in sleep during the COVID-19 pandemic” (Batra et al., 2021). Seeing how a lockdown that was less than six months caused an increase of 71% in students is extremely concerning. The change in their learning environment, sleep, and social life were a few of the major losses that caused students to face many challenges that impacted their mental health.
Methods:
Batra, K., Sharma, M., Batra, R., Singh, T. P., & Schvaneveldt, N. (2021, February 17). Assessing the psychological impact of COVID-19 among college students: An evidence of 15 countries. MDPI. Retrieved April 22, 2022, from https://www.mdpi.com/2227-9032/9/2/222/htm#B4-healthcare-09-00222
This research study identifies the negative psychological impact that the COVID-19 lockdown had on college students, but those from continents such as Asia, Europe, South, and North America. The study revealed that students were experiencing depression, PTSD, anxiety, and sleep imparity due to the lockdown. It appears that the change from having day-to-day interactions in university to being locked indoors took a toll on many students. However, this research had only taken into account one study from North America whilst it had 18 studies from Asia so I feel this is a limitation as both countries have different learning styles and could impact the results of the research.
Felman, A. (2020, April 13). Mental health: Definition, common disorders, early signs, and more. Medical News Today. Retrieved April 23, 2022, from https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/154543
This article provides an in-depth definition of mental health. It delivers background information such as common early signs, the risks of having low mental health, and common disorders associated with mental health such as anxiety, depression, PTSD, and more. It also provides different treatment options to improve one’s mental health.
Kaparounaki, C. K., Patsali, M. E., Mousa, D.-P. V., Papadopoulou, E. V. K., Papadopoulou, K. K. K., & Fountoulakis, K. N. (2020, May 19). University Students’ mental health amidst the COVID-19 quarantine in Greece. Psychiatry Research. Retrieved April 22, 2022, from https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S016517812031413X
This research study focuses on the impact lockdown had on college students in Greece. One thing they mention is how the death toll was one of the lowest, which is completely different from the USA’s death rate due to covid. However, they were able to see similar trends in the effect lockdown had on college students. Although they only gathered results from 1000 university students, the results showed that students were experiencing thoughts of suicide, depression, loss of value in life, and anxiety. The study also took note of the reported increases in these disorders that students were going through. Although the study was done in Greece, we see how there are a lot of similarities between the impact lockdown had on university students. However, this study seemed to take place very early into the lockdown (April 4-9, 2020) and the lack of participants makes it questionable as to how large the impact truly is. Additionally, although they identified the effects that lockdown had they didn’t identify the certain stressors that played a role in this.
Lee, J., Solomon, M., Stead, T., Kwon, B., & Ganti, L. (2021, June 8). Impact of covid-19 on the mental health of US college students – BMC psychology. BioMed Central. Retrieved April 22, 2022, from https://bmcpsychology.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s40359-021-00598-3
This research study was able to identify the impact lockdown had on U.S college students and the reasons that led to them feeling this way. The use of a survey, and a wide number of questions allowed for an in-depth understanding of the stressors that most affected students’ mental health. Additionally, since it focused on students in the U.S it provides great support to my research. Yet, the survey was only available to those that had access to Pollfish, thus only 200 students had taken it. With this, we can see how the results could be limited as it is unknown which university these students had gone to and the lockdown rules in that area.
Liu, C. H., Zhang, E., Wong, G. T. F., Hyun, S., & Hahm, H. “C. (2020, June 1). Factors associated with depression, anxiety, and PTSD symptomatology during the COVID-19 pandemic: Clinical implications for U.S. young adult mental health. Psychiatry Research. Retrieved April 22, 2022, from https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0165178120311185?casa_token=YJFx2-ktncoAAAAA%3A_2P46TNyO4d8VSFN_j7f6AiK7j4jW1NUprPvAV6FXNC4tm8AXzp9BERbf_5iA1ilGSUFHB5f
This research focuses on the different mental health issues that began to arise in young adults due to the lockdown. The study focused on the first few weeks of the pandemic to determine the challenges individuals were going through during the pandemic. The research provided a great understanding of the impact lockdown had specifically on people living in the U.S. It identified the uncontrollable things caused by the lockdown, and the negative result it had on one’s mental health. However, the age range in this study seems to be quite large (18-30) so the focus is not specifically on only college students.
Son1, C., Hegde1, S., Smith1, A., Wang1, X., Sasangohar1, F., 1Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering, & Sasangohar, C. A. F. (n.d.). Effects of COVID-19 on college students’ mental health in the United States: Interview survey study. Journal of Medical Internet Research. Retrieved April 22, 2022, from https://www.jmir.org/2020/9/e21279/
This research study was done to determine the effect lockdown had on U.S college students and the specific reason for these negative psychological effects. They identified certain stressors such as sleeping habits, difficulty in concentration, social isolation, and much more to harm students’ mental health. This study supports my hypothesis because it can identify the major key stressors that impacted students during lockdown that led them to depression, anxiety, sleep deprivation, etc. However, the study only focused on one U.S state, Texas, rather than looking at the impact it had on the country as a whole. Getting results from only one state out of the 50 is a limitation as not all states are the same thus raising questions for the study.
Outcomes:
These sources reinforce my hypothesis as they provide in-depth research on the negative impact the lockdown has had on an individual’s mental health. They were also able to identify the certain stressors that students were introduced to due to the lockdown. However, what these studies lack is identifying the most negative stressors, and solutions to these challenges students are facing. Only one study went in-depth when interviewing the participants, however, the study was very limited as it only consisted of one out of the fifty states. The essential benefit of conducting further research is to formulate solutions for these negative stressors that impact one’s mental health in case another lockdown would take place, specifically in the United States. In doing so, we will be able to possibly limit the negative impact that catastrophic events can have on college students. By conducting new research, we can possibly save a majority of college students. With that being said, I suggest an interview/poll study that can identify the challenges most students went through, and gather insight into what resources they wish were available to them during the difficult times.
