Psychological Distress among Italian University Students Compared to General Workers during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Romeo, Annunziata; Benfante, Agata; Castelli, Lorys; Di Tella, Marialaura

The COVID-19 pandemic induced numerous changes in the daily life of every individual, with important social, economic, and psychological consequences. Particularly, the psychological impact encountered among students might be affected by social isolation, concern for personal health and for the health of family members and friends, and uncertainty about academic progress. The present study aimed to investigate the psychological impact of the COVID-19 outbreak on Italian university students compared to general workers. The responses of 956 participants (478 university students and 478 workers) were included in the final dataset. Participants were asked to provide sociodemographic and occupation-related information, and to complete: (1) COVID-19-related questions; (2) health-related visual analogue scales; (3) State-Trait Anxiety Inventory-Form Y1 (STAI Y1); and (4) the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI-II). Results of comparisons between university students and general workers revealed that the former reported higher levels of anxiety and depressive symptoms. Furthermore, regression analyses showed that in university students, gender, health evaluation, and health concern and gender, educational level, and health evaluation significantly predicted anxiety and depressive symptoms, respectively. Taken together these findings suggest that specific factors could predispose University students to a high risk of developing mental health symptoms as a consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic.