ArticleScientific reports2021
The impact of lockdown stress and loneliness during the COVID-19 pandemic on mental health among university students in Germany.
Article in Scientific reports, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 83 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
83 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Belongingness and loneliness in higher education: a meta-analysis of pre- and post-pandemic trends.Frontiers in psychology · 2025Pooled it
- Depressive Symptoms Among Higher Education Students in Germany-A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Public health reviews · 2024Pooled it
- Loneliness before and during the COVID-19 pandemic: A systematic review with meta-analysis.The American psychologistPooled it
- The effect of online mindfulness training on connectedness to oneself, to others and to nature in students.Applied psychology. Health and well-being · 2026Trial
- Brief repeated virtual nature contact for three weeks boosts university students' nature connectedness and psychological and physiological health during the COVID-19 pandemic: A pilot study.Frontiers in public health · 2022Trial
- Stress and Resilience Development in German Dental Students.European journal of dental education : official journal of the Association for Dental Education in Europe · 2026Article
- Contextual stressors and multidimensional mental health among university students during the COVID-19 period: a construct-level network analysis.BMC psychology · 2026Article
- [Mental health status of medical students-A nationwide cross-sectional study].Der Nervenarzt · 2026Article
- Social connection before and after the COVID-19 pandemic: results of the Belgian Health Interview Survey.BMC public health · 2026Article
- Predictor and subgroup analysis of somatic symptoms and emotional exhaustion among university students in Germany during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic: a longitudinal analysis.Frontiers in public health · 2026Article
- The Research Domain Criteria (RDoC) domains positive valence system, negative valence system, cognitive systems, and social processes and their relationship with stress, anxiety, and depressive symptoms in a university student sample.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2026Article
- Longitudinal Examination of Loneliness and Smoking in Adolescents and Young Adults: A Multiple Dataset Study.International journal of mental health and addiction · 2026Article
- Trauma exposure as a predictor of general health outcomes and trauma-related beliefs among older adults living in an adverse environment.Aging & mental health · 2025Article
- What is the impact of social support on self-rated health and depressive symptoms in university students: a survey study in two German universities.BMC public health · 2025Article
- Loneliness and Distress in the Aftermath of the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Cross-Sectional Study of German University Students.Clinical psychology in Europe · 2025Article
- Longitudinal influence of quarantine and COVID-19 surge after quarantine was released on behavioral and mental problems among Chinese university students.BMC public health · 2025Observational
- Symptoms of anxiety and depression among health and social science students: A multicenter study.Heliyon · 2025Article
- Predictors, patterns, and correlates of moderate-severe psychological distress among New York City College Students during Waves 2-4 of COVID-19.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Social-ecological factors associated with loneliness in university students: results from the German cross-sectional StudiBiFra study.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2025Article
- Advanced data analysis and prediction model for student mental health risk assessment.Frontiers in psychology · 2025Article
23 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
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11 authors.
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Abstract
The COVID-19 pandemic led to a shutdown of universities in Germany. In a longitudinal design, we compared mental health (depression, anxiety, somatic complaints) of university students in Germany before (June to August 2019) and in the course of the COVID-19 pandemic (June 2020) and determined the impact of pandemic-related stress and loneliness on students' mental health in self-report online surveys. We investigated 443 participants (mean age 22.8 years), among them 77% female, and 10.4% medical students. A small increase of depression mean scores was observed (F(1,420) = 5.21; p = .023), anxiety and somatic complaints have not significantly changed. There was a medium increase in loneliness from pre-pandemic scores to the pandemic situation (F(1,423) = 30.56; p < .001). Analyzed with regression analyses, current loneliness and pre-pandemic distress represented the strongest associations with mental health during the pandemic. Additionally, health-related concerns during the pandemic were associated with symptoms of depression [b = 0.21; 95%CI(0.08; 0.34); t = 3.12; p = .002], anxiety [b = 0.07; 95%CI(0.01; 0.12); t = 2.50; p = .013], somatic complaints [b = 0.33; 95%CI(0.18; 0.47); t = 4.49; p < .001], and loneliness [b = 0.10; 95%CI(0.03; 0.17); t = 2.74; p = .006]. Social stress due to the pandemic situation was associated with loneliness [b = 0.38; 95%CI(0.32; 0.45); t = 11.75; p < .001]. The results imply that university students represent a risk group for psychosocial long-term ramifications of the pandemic.
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