University Students’ Financial Situation During COVID-19 and Anxiety and Depressive Symptoms: Results of the COVID-19 German Student Well-Being Study (C19 GSWS)

Abstract

Sarah Negash,1 Johannes Horn,1 Eileen Heumann,2 Christiane Stock,2 Hajo Zeeb,3,4 Claudia R Pischke,5 Paula M Matos Fialho,5 Stefanie M Helmer,6 Yasemin Niephaus,7 Rafael Mikolajczyk1 1Institute for Medical Epidemiology, Biometrics and Informatics, Interdisciplinary Center for Health Sciences, Medical School of the Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, Halle (Saale), Germany; 2Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, corporate member of Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Institute of Health and Nursing Science, Berlin, Germany; 3Department of Prevention and Evaluation, Leibniz Institute for Prevention Research and Epidemiology- BIPS, Bremen, Germany; 4Health Sciences Bremen, University of Bremen, Bremen, Germany; 5Institute of Medical Sociology, Centre for Health and Society, Medical Faculty, Heinrich-Heine-University, Duesseldorf, Germany; 6Institute of Public Health and Nursing Research, Faculty 11 Human and Health Sciences, University of Bremen, Bremen, Germany; 7Department of Social Sciences, University of Siegen, Siegen, GermanyCorrespondence: Rafael Mikolajczyk, Institute of Medical Epidemiology, Biostatistics, and Informatics, Interdisciplinary Center for Health Sciences, Medical School of the Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, Magdeburger Str. 8, Halle (Saale), 06112, Germany, Email [email protected]: The COVID-19 pandemic has had a major impact on students’ financial situation as well as on their mental health.Aim: To examine the reported change in the financial situation of German university students before and across two time points of the COVID-19 pandemic and to evaluate its associations with anxiety and depressive symptoms.Methods: We used data from the cross-sectional COVID-19 German Student Well-being Study conducted at five German universities (N = 7203). Linear regression models were used to analyze associations between a reported change in financial situation and anxiety and depressive symptoms.Results: Twenty-eight percent of the participants reported to have a worsened financial situation at the time of the survey compared to the time prior to the pandemic. A worsened financial situation at the time of the survey as compared to prior to the pandemic was associated with higher levels of anxiety and depressive symptoms reported in all three depression and anxiety scales [a 1.46 point increase on the CES-D 8 scale (95% confidence interval (CI): 1.19; 1.73), a 0.37-point increase in PHQ-2 (95% CI: 0.28; 0.46), and a 0.45-point increase in GAD-2 (95% CI: 0.35; 0.55)]. An improved financial situation, on the other hand, was associated with lower levels of anxiety and depressive symptoms. As for the second change, comparing the current financial situation with the situation during the first wave of the pandemic, the associations with anxiety and depressive symptoms were broadly similar.Conclusion: Our findings suggest that students are a vulnerable population in need of mental and financial support during times of crisis. Future research is needed to obtain insights into potential long-term effects of the pandemic on students’ mental health.Keywords: higher education, pandemic, financial situation, mental health, students’ well-being

Keywords

• higher education
• pandemic
• financial situation
• mental health
• students' well-being