{"id":142837,"date":"2022-09-22T15:29:38","date_gmt":"2022-09-22T21:29:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/?p=142837"},"modified":"2022-09-29T08:32:45","modified_gmt":"2022-09-29T14:32:45","slug":"covid-19-was-bad-for-college-students-mental-and-physical-health-how-should-universities-respond","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/?p=142837","title":{"rendered":"COVID-19 was bad for college students’ health. How should universities respond?"},"content":{"rendered":"
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A new study from the University of Colorado Colorado Springs (UCCS) shows that pandemic shutdowns had negative effects on every indicator of college students\u2019 emotional and physical health. And that’s just the beginning. Photo credit: Josefa N. Diaz via Unsplash<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
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When college campuses closed their doors in March 2020 to stop the spread of COVID-19, researchers assumed college students\u2019 health would suffer. What they didn\u2019t know was how widespread the effects would be. Now, research from the University of Colorado Colorado Springs (UCCS) shows negative effects on every indicator of college students\u2019 emotional and physical health, from sleep quality to depression. And the research goes on to ask pressing questions: Will these effects linger long past the re-opening of society? If so, how should universities respond?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The study\u2019s principal investigators included Michele Okun, a sleep researcher and Associate Professor of Research at UCCS, and Leilani Feliciano, Professor of Psychology. Okun and Feliciano began the study in April 2020, just weeks after college campuses worldwide initiated pandemic shutdowns.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The study had two aims. The first was to supplement the earliest investigations of the effects of pandemic shutdowns on university students, which primarily surveyed students in China, Italy and Spain. Okun and Feliciano wanted to examine if the same effects were observed on American students.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The second aim was to study college students\u2019 wellbeing both before and during pandemic shutdowns \u2014 in other words, to isolate the 2020\u201321 pandemic shutdown as a variable, and examine its effects on students\u2019 physical and emotional health.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe were interested in assessing health behaviors both pre-pandemic and then during the pandemic,\u201d Okun said. \u201cDid the pandemic change things? Did the shutdown really change things in the students we surveyed? That was our real interest.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Feliciano and Okun examined five indicators of mental and physical health: depression, anxiety, stress, sleep quality and physical activity. The study compared a large cohort of undergraduate and graduate students\u2019 reported wellbeing before the pandemic, and then while experiencing a pandemic shutdown.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The study showed that the pandemic shutdown had a statistically significant effect on every indicator surveyed. Rates of depression, anxiety and stress all increased during the shutdown compared to their pre-shutdown rates \u2014 and increased further the longer the shutdown went on. When classes moved to online formats, all forms of exercise decreased, and sedentary time increased. The researchers were even able to extract findings from the several hundred students who did not finish the survey. Those who failed to complete the survey reported higher anxiety than those who finished it, suggesting that college students\u2019 elevated stress and anxiety rippled out to affect their ability to concentrate and complete tasks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a sleep researcher, Okun was particularly interested in the findings on college students\u2019 sleep. The news was all bad: sleep quality, quantity and healthy habits all decreased during the shutdown.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWith the abrupt removal of routine and structure, students, especially those with preexisting circadian misalignment, were free to modify their sleep schedules, resulting in drastically shifted sleep and wake times,\u201d she wrote in the study. \u201cThese findings are important to consider given that poor sleep and insomnia are prodromal symptoms for the development and exacerbation of depression and anxiety, which are already high among this cohort.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In other words, poor sleep, which can be caused<\/em> by stress and anxiety, can also exacerbate<\/em> stress and anxiety \u2014 creating a self-perpetuating cycle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Feliciano and Okun concluded that the COVID-19 pandemic shutdown caused significant mental and physical health consequences for college students, and that these effects may well linger long past the re-opening of society. For this reason, \u201cit may be prudent to prepare for additional demand on campus resources,\u201d the researchers wrote.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But one silver lining in the research showed that students who reported positive experiences during the pandemic shutdown \u2014 like enjoying increased time and connection with their families \u2014 had a buffer against the worst side effects of the pandemic: they experienced less anxiety, lower rates of depression and fewer disruptions to their sleep. For this reason, the researchers suggest that universities should invest in programs supporting students\u2019 emotional wellbeing. That can mean hiring mental health counselors, creating more wellbeing programs and promoting connection among students and their peers. The researchers also recommend that universities encourage physical activity and discourage sedentary behaviors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAllocating financial and emotional resources,\u201d the researchers concluded, \u201cmay be an ideal measure to offset a major crisis.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The full study, titled \u201cPsychological and physical health behavior deviations in students amidst the COVID-19 pandemic,\u201d was published by the Journal of American College Health in 2022. The research team included Okun; Feliciano; Allison Walden, a clinical psychology doctoral candidate at UCCS; and Anna C. Robertson, Katie Oltz and Rebecca E. Ingram, UCCS graduate students. Read the full study online.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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