# Mental health among Chinese university students during COVID-19: 28-month, ten-wave longitudinal study

## TL;DR

This study tracked the mental health of Chinese university students over 28 months during the pandemic, finding that lockdowns at university caused more mental distress than home lockdowns or no lockdowns.

## Contribution

The study provides new insights into how different types of lockdowns affect mental health over time during the pandemic.

## Key findings

- Mental distress increased after an initial dip and continued to rise over the 28-month study period.
- University lockdowns were associated with higher levels of mental distress compared to home lockdowns and no lockdowns.
- Home lockdowns reduced anxiety and stress but had no significant effect on depression compared to no lockdowns.

## Abstract

The cumulative effects of long-term exposure to pandemic-related stressors and the severity of social restrictions may have been important determinants of mental distress in the time of COVID-19.

This study aimed to investigate mental health among a cohort of Chinese university students over a 28-month period, focusing on the effects of lockdown type.

Depression, anxiety, stress and fear of COVID-19 infection were measured ten times among 188 Chinese students (females 77.7%, meanage = 19.8, s.d.age = 0.97), every 3 months: from prior to the emergence of COVID-19 in November 2019 (T1) to March 2022 (T10).

Initially depression, anxiety and stress dipped from T1 to T2, followed by a sudden increase at T3 and a slow upward rise over the remainder of the study period (T3 to T10). When locked down at university, participants showed greater mental distress compared with both home lockdown (d = 0.35–0.48) and a no-lockdown comparison period (d = 0.28–0.40). Conversely, home lockdown was associated with less anxiety and stress (d = 0.19 and 0.21, respectively), but not with depression (d = 0.13) compared with a no-lockdown period.

This study highlights the cumulative effects of exposure to COVID-19 stressors over time. It also suggests that the way in which a lockdown is carried out can impact the well-being of those involved. Some forms of lockdown appear to pose a greater threat to mental health than others.