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Link to original content: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35805589/
COVID-19 Pandemic and International Students' Mental Health in China: Age, Gender, Chronic Health Condition and Having Infected Relative as Risk Factors - PubMed Skip to main page content
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. 2022 Jun 28;19(13):7916.
doi: 10.3390/ijerph19137916.

COVID-19 Pandemic and International Students' Mental Health in China: Age, Gender, Chronic Health Condition and Having Infected Relative as Risk Factors

Collins Opoku Antwi  1 , Michelle Allyshia Belle  1 , Seth Yeboah Ntim  2 , Yuanchun Wu  1 , Emmanuel Affum-Osei  3 , Michael Osei Aboagye  4 , Jun Ren  1
Affiliations

COVID-19 Pandemic and International Students' Mental Health in China: Age, Gender, Chronic Health Condition and Having Infected Relative as Risk Factors

Collins Opoku Antwi et al. Int J Environ Res Public Health. .

Abstract

International students in China were among the first group of individuals to be affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the pandemic's impact on their mental health is underexplored. This study-utilizing web-based survey data (N = 381), presents preliminary reports using ANOVA and MIMIC analytic approaches. Following the clinical demarcation of the 21-item version of the Depression Anxiety Stress Scales (DASS-21), we found 24.6%, 38.3%, and 43.6% of the students to suffer mild to extreme stress, anxiety, and depression, respectively. Female students reported significantly higher levels of stress and depression than males. Older students' reports of stress were more substantial than younger students. Students who reported having a relative infected with the virus (vs. those without) experienced significantly higher anxiety and stress. Those who reported having pre-existing chronic health condition(s) (vs. those without) also reported significantly higher stress, anxiety, and depression levels. Moreover, students with an exercise routine (vs. those without) experienced significantly lower levels of stress, anxiety, and depression. Last, our MIMIC model results indicate that foreign students' age, gender, chronic health status, and having a relative infected with the virus constitute significant risk factors explaining variations in foreign students' experience of psychological distress. Implications for international students' management have been thoroughly discussed.

Keywords: COVID-19 pandemic; anxiety; depression; international students; stress.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors of this manuscript declare that they have no known competing interests, financial or otherwise, that could impact the decisions on the study design, results’ reporting and the choice of publication outlet.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
International students’ experience of anxiety, stress, and depression during COVID-19 pandemic in China.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Structural model examining students’ demographics effect on DASS-21. Note: Chronic = chronic health conditions, COVID-19 = relative with COVID-19. * p < 0.05, ** p < 0.01, *** p < 0.001.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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Grants and funding

This work was funded by Grant ZC304020924 from the ZJNUf Postdoctoral Research, Grant PJ103018001 from the Open Research Fund of College of Teacher Education, Zhejiang Normal University, Grant BBA170067 from The National Social Science Fund and supported by China Positive Psychology Research Foundation 2021 Key Projects, Beijing Happiness Foundation. The funders had no involvement in the data collection, analysis and interpretation, as well as the manuscript write-up and the decision to submit the manuscript for publication.