SynthesisScientific reports2022
The prevalence of psychological stress in student populations during the COVID-19 epidemic: a systematic review and meta-analysis.
Synthesis in Scientific reports, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 37 papers, 6 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
37 citing papers in PubMed, 6 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- From positive psychology to practical empowerment: theoretical construction and pathway innovation in graduate student mental health education.Frontiers in psychology · 2026Pooled it
- The prevalence of stress during the COVID-19 pandemic: an umbrella review.BMC public health · 2025Pooled it
- Prevalence of stress and associated factors among students in Ethiopia: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Frontiers in public health · 2025Pooled it
- An umbrella review of the prevalence of depression during the COVID-19 pandemic: Call to action for post-COVID-19 at the global level.BMC public health · 2024Pooled it
- Estimation of the prevalence of anxiety during the COVID-19 pandemic: A meta-analysis of meta-analyses.BMC public health · 2024Pooled it
- COVID-19 and common mental health symptoms in the early phase of the pandemic: An umbrella review of the evidence.PLoS medicine · 2023Pooled it
- Harnessing large language models in virtual CBT for university students' academic anxiety: a preliminary randomized trial.Frontiers in public health · 2026Trial
- Change Takes Time: Anxiety and Depression Following Brief Psychodynamic Counseling in University Students.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Contextual stressors and multidimensional mental health among university students during the COVID-19 period: a construct-level network analysis.BMC psychology · 2026Article
- The health diet as a mediator in relationship between stress and sleep quality of college students with physical exercise as a moderator.BMC pediatrics · 2026Article
- Factors Associated with Intention to Use Digital Mental Health Interventions Among AANHPI Emerging Adults in the United States: Application of the Seeking Mental Health Care Model.Research square · 2026Article
- A Meta-Analysis Examining the Efficacy and Predictors of Change in Mindfulness- and Self-Compassion-Based Interventions (MBSCIs) in Reducing Psychological Distress Among University Students.European journal of investigation in health, psychology and education · 2026Review
- Global prevalence of different levels of anxiety and stress symptoms in healthcare students: A meta-analysis and meta-regression.Annals of general psychiatry · 2026Article
- Anxiety and depression in emerging adults: The STAND program as a model of scalable screening and intervention.Neuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology · 2026Review
- Not all distress is the same: profiles of stress, anxiety, and depression among university students.Frontiers in psychology · 2026Article
- Perceived financial decline and depressive symptoms among undergraduate students in Japan in 2022 during the COVID-19 pandemic: a cross-sectional study of potential indirect associations.BMC public health · 2025Article
- Psychological symptoms, comorbidities and symptom items associated with self-reported mental health needs in college students.BMC psychiatry · 2025Article
- Movement and dietary behaviours and mental health among university students: the Health@NUS study.BMC public health · 2025Observational
- Psychological Problems and Academic Motivation in University Students: A Cross-Sectional Study One Year after the COVID-19 Lockdown in Italy.The Psychiatric quarterly · 2025Article
- Impact of COVID-19 on Mental Health in Nursing Students and Non-Nursing Students: A Cross-Sectional Study.Nursing reports (Pavia, Italy) · 2025Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
8 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Following the COVID-19 outbreak, psychological stress was particularly pronounced in the student population due to prolonged home isolation, online study, closed management, graduation, and employment pressures. The objective of this study is to identify the incidence of psychological stress reactions in student populations following a global outbreak and the associated influencing factors. Four English databases (Pubmed, Embase, Cochrane Library, Web of Science) and four Chinese biomedical databases (Chinese Biomedical Literature Database, VIP Database for Chinese Technical Periodicals, China National Knowledge Infrastructure, Wanfang) were searched in this study. We also retrieved other search engines manually. The search period was from the time of database creation to 10 March 2022. This study included cross-sectional studies related to psychological stress reactions in student populations during the COVID-19 epidemic. Three groups of researchers screened the retrieved studies and assessed the quality of the included studies using the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality Cross-Sectional Study Quality Assessment Checklist. A random-effects model was used to analyze the prevalence of depression, anxiety, stress, and fear symptoms in the student population during the COVID-19 epidemic. Of the 146,330 records retrieved, we included 104 studies (n = 2,088,032). The quality of included studies was moderate. The prevalence of depressive symptoms in the student population during the epidemic was 32.0% (95% CI [28.0-37.0%]); anxiety symptoms was 28.0% (95% CI [24.0-32.0%]); stress symptoms was 31.0% (95% CI [23.0-39.0%]); and fear symptoms was 33.0% (95% CI [20.0-49.0%]). The prevalence differed by gender, epidemic stage, region, education stage, student major and assessment tool. The prevalence of psychological stress in the student population during the COVID-19 epidemic may be higher compared to the global prevalence of psychological stress. We need to alleviate psychological stress in the student population in a targeted manner to provide mental health services to safeguard the student population.
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