ArticleJMIR mental health2021
Factors Influencing Depression and Mental Distress Related to COVID-19 Among University Students in China: Online Cross-sectional Mediation Study.
Article in JMIR mental health, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 28 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
28 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 59 citations in OpenAlex.
- Prevalence of depression among university students in China: a systematic review and meta-analysis.BMC psychology · 2025Pooled it
- A systematic review and meta-analysis on the prevalence of stigma in infectious diseases, including COVID-19: a call to action.Molecular psychiatry · 2022Pooled it
- Post-secondary Student Mental Health During COVID-19: A Meta-Analysis.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2021Pooled it
- Dao Yin practice for student wellbeing: a classroom-based pilot study.Frontiers in psychology · 2026Article
- Exploring the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on cancer-related distress among thoracic oncology patients at a rural cancer center.Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer · 2025Article
- Increased experiences of loneliness during the COVID-19 pandemic, emotional distress and changes in perceived physical and mental health: A structural equation model.Nursing open · 2024Article
- Insights into medical students' perceptions of work culture during the COVID-19 pandemic: a mixed method study.BMC medical education · 2024Article
- Is vaccine hesitancy related to mental health after the adjustment of the zero-COVID-19 strategy in the elderly? A mediation analysis in China.Human vaccines & immunotherapeutics · 2023Article
- Post-traumatic stress disorders, anxiety, and depression in college students during the COVID-19 pandemic: a cross-sectional study.BMC psychiatry · 2023Article
- Financial and Other Life Stressors, Psychological Distress, and Food and Beverage Consumption among Students Attending a Large California State University during the COVID-19 Pandemic.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2023Article
- Network analysis of internet addiction and depression among Chinese college students during the COVID-19 pandemic: A longitudinal study.Computers in human behavior · 2023Article
- Development and validation of the conservation of resources scale for COVID-19 in the Chinese adult general population.Current psychology (New Brunswick, N.J.) · 2023Article
- Academic distress among undergraduate students during COVID-19: the relevance of SES and help-seeking behaviors.Frontiers in psychology · 2023Article
- Prevalence and factors associated with anxiety and depression among Chinese prison officers during the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic.Frontiers in public health · 2023Article
- Development and Validation of the Outcome Expectancy Scale for COVID-19 Vaccination in the Adult General Population.Vaccines · 2022Article
- Prevalence and associated influential factors of mental health problems among Chinese college students during different stages of COVID-19 pandemic: A systematic review.Psychiatry research communications · 2022Review
- Longitudinal Shifts in Movement Behaviors during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Relations to Posttraumatic Stress Disorder among University Students.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Article
- The Association between Socio-Demographics and Mental Distress Following COVID-19 Vaccination-Mediation of Vaccine Hesitancy.Vaccines · 2022Article
- Movement behaviors and posttraumatic stress disorder during the COVID-19 pandemic: A retrospective study of Chinese university students.Journal of exercise science and fitness · 2022Article
- Interventions in Chinese Undergraduate Students' Mental Health: Systematic Review.Interactive journal of medical research · 2022Review
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Authors and funding
21 authors at 15 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundThe COVID-19 epidemic may elevate mental distress and depressive symptoms in various populations in China.
objectiveThis study investigates the levels of depression and mental distress due to COVID-19, and the associations between cognitive, behavioral, and psychosocial factors, and depression and mental distress due to COVID-19 among university students in China.
methodsA large-scale online cross-sectional study (16 cities in 13 provinces) was conducted among university students from February 1 to 10, 2020, in China; 23,863 valid questionnaires were returned. The Patient Health Questionnaire-9 was used to assess depression. Structural equation modeling was performed to test mediation and suppression effects.
resultsOf the 23,863 participants, 47.1% (n=11,235) reported high or very high levels of one or more types of mental distress due to COVID-19; 39.1% (n=9326) showed mild to severe depression. Mental distress due to COVID-19 was positively associated with depression. All but one factor (perceived infection risks, perceived chance of controlling the epidemic, staying at home, contacted people from Wuhan, and perceived discrimination) were significantly associated with mental distress due to COVID-19 and depression. Mental distress due to COVID-19 partially mediated and suppressed the associations between some of the studied factors and depression (effect size of 6.0%-79.5%).
conclusionsBoth mental distress due to COVID-19 and depression were prevalent among university students in China; the former may have increased the prevalence of the latter. The studied cognitive, behavioral, and psychosocial factors related to COVID-19 may directly or indirectly (via mental distress due to COVID-19) affect depression. Interventions to modify such factors may reduce mental distress and depressive symptoms during the COVID-19 epidemic.
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