Depression, Anxiety, Stress and Fear about COVID-19 among Chinese University Students

Abstract

Purpose: The purposes of this study were to assess the levels of anxiety, depression, and stress, as well as to measure the possible influencing factors that affect these negative psychological emotions. Second, try to use the revised fear of COVID-19 to assess possible factors influencing fear of COVID-19 among mainland Chinese university students. Lastly, try to identify the relationship between covid-19-related fears and depression, anxiety and stress, as well as to identify the impact of covid-19-related fears on depression, anxiety, and stress variables, respectively. Design and Methods: An electronic questionnaire and convenience sampling survey method were used in this study among 201 Chinese university students in June 2022. The DASS-21 model and the Fear of COVID-19 Scale were used to assess the anxiety, depression, and stress levels of university students, as well as their fear of COVID-19, including infection, instability and insecurity dimensions. Findings: First, the statistic analysis revealed that 60.7% of the participants experienced anxiety, 54.8% experienced depression, and 46.3% experienced stress (from mild to extremely severe), indicating that the half of Chinese college students have experienced anxiety, depression, and stress. Independent sample t-test or one-way ANOVA results revealed no significant gender or grade differences, nor differences in protective measures on anxiety, depression, or stress; however, significant differences in be bothered by negative information and getting COVID-19 vaccination factors were found in anxiety, depression, and stress. Second, similar results were obtained for fear of COVID-19 as the anxiety, depression, and stress sub-scales. Last but not least, after controlling the negative information of COVID-19 and getting COVID-19 vaccination factors, the results of the hierarchical regression analysis revealed that among the fear of COVID-19 factors, infection and insecurity were significant predictors of anxiety; only fear of insecurity was a significant predictor of depression; and all three COVID-19 fear factors were significant predictors of stress. And even after controlling for other factors, the fear of COVID-19 factors still significantly influenced the anxiety, depression, and stress symptoms of Chinese college students, accounting for more than half of the variance in anxiety, depression, and stress scores, respectively. Practice Implications: These findings highlight the critical importance of interventions to reduce anxiety, depression and stress, as well as fear of COVID19 among university students. KEYWORDS COVID-19, fear, depression, anxiety, stress, university students, Chinese