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COVID-19 Pandemic: Another Source of Stress for Medical Students

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 September 2022

A.T. Pereira ,
C. Cabacos ,
A. Araújo ,
M.J. Soares ,
M.J. Brito ,
F. Carvalho ,
D. Mota ,
M. Bajouco ,
N. Madeira  and
M. Carneiro
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A.T. Pereira*
Affiliation:
Faculty of Medicine of University of Coimbra, Institute Of Psychological Medicine, Coimbra, Portugal Coimbra Institute for Biomedical Imaging and Translational Research, -, Coimbra, Portugal
C. Cabacos
Affiliation:
Faculty of Medicine of University of Coimbra, Institute Of Psychological Medicine, Coimbra, Portugal Centro Hospitalar e Universitário de Coimbra, Department Of Psychiatry, Coimbra, Portugal
A. Araújo
Affiliation:
Faculty of Medicine of University of Coimbra, Institute Of Psychological Medicine, Coimbra, Portugal Coimbra Institute for Biomedical Imaging and Translational Research, -, Coimbra, Portugal Centro Hospitalar e Universitário de Coimbra, Department Of Psychiatry, Coimbra, Portugal
M.J. Soares
Affiliation:
Faculty of Medicine of University of Coimbra, Institute Of Psychological Medicine, Coimbra, Portugal
M.J. Brito
Affiliation:
Faculty of Medicine of University of Coimbra, Institute Of Psychological Medicine, Coimbra, Portugal Centro Hospitalar e Universitário de Coimbra, Department Of Psychiatry, Coimbra, Portugal
F. Carvalho
Affiliation:
Faculty of Medicine of University of Coimbra, Institute Of Psychological Medicine, Coimbra, Portugal
D. Mota
Affiliation:
Faculty of Medicine of University of Coimbra, Institute Of Psychological Medicine, Coimbra, Portugal Centro Hospitalar e Universitário de Coimbra, Department Of Psychiatry, Coimbra, Portugal
M. Bajouco
Affiliation:
Faculty of Medicine of University of Coimbra, Institute Of Psychological Medicine, Coimbra, Portugal Coimbra Institute for Biomedical Imaging and Translational Research, -, Coimbra, Portugal Centro Hospitalar e Universitário de Coimbra, Department Of Psychiatry, Coimbra, Portugal
N. Madeira
Affiliation:
Faculty of Medicine of University of Coimbra, Institute Of Psychological Medicine, Coimbra, Portugal Coimbra Institute for Biomedical Imaging and Translational Research, -, Coimbra, Portugal Centro Hospitalar e Universitário de Coimbra, Department Of Psychiatry, Coimbra, Portugal
M. Carneiro
Affiliation:
Faculty of Medicine of University of Coimbra, Institute Of Psychological Medicine, Coimbra, Portugal Centro Hospitalar e Universitário de Coimbra, Department Of Psychiatry, Coimbra, Portugal
A. Macedo
Affiliation:
Faculty of Medicine of University of Coimbra, Institute Of Psychological Medicine, Coimbra, Portugal Coimbra Institute for Biomedical Imaging and Translational Research, -, Coimbra, Portugal Centro Hospitalar e Universitário de Coimbra, Department Of Psychiatry, Coimbra, Portugal
*
*Corresponding author.

Abstract

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Introduction

The COVID-19 pandemic has completely changed the experience of higher education with potentially negative consequences for students’ wellbeing.

Objectives

To compare medicine/dentistry students’ depression/anxiety/stress levels before versus during the pandemic and to analyse the role of COVID-19-related stressors in their psychological distress.

Methods

Students from the Faculty of Medicine University of Coimbra answered socio-demographic and personality questionnaires and the Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale/DASS before (academic years 2016-2017-2018-2019 - SAMPLE1; n=1000) and during (September-December 2020 and January-March 2021 - SAMPLE2; n=650) the COVID-19 pandemic. Mean age (21.12±3.75), personality traits scores, and gender proportions (»75% girls) did not significantly differ between samples. SAMPLE2 also filled in the Fear of COVID-19 Scale and a new version of the Inventory of Sources of Stress During Medical Education/ISSDME, containing a COVID-19 -related dimension (restrictions on training and on socializing with friends/colleagues).

Results

SAMPLE2 presented significantly higher mean scores of depression (3.89±3.55vs.3.33±3.34), anxiety (3.27±4.08vs.2.86±3.29), stress (7.07±5.72vs.6.18±4.59) and total DASS (12.28±10.55vs.13.65±11.13) than SAMPLE1 (all p<.05). Fear of COVID-19 was a significant predictor of DASS score (adjusted R2=2.9%, p<.001). COVID-19-related stressors continued explaining significant increments of DASS variance after controlling for each of the ISSDME dimensions: Course demands (R2 Change=1.8%), Human demands (2.5%), Lifestyle (2.3%), Academic competition (5.5%), and Academic adjustment (5.2%) (all p<.001).

Conclusions

This study adds to the evidence of the negative impact of COVID-19 on students and emphasizes its pernicious role on medical students’ psychological distress, which is already higher due to the individual and academic stressors to which they are more exposed.

Disclosure

No significant relationships.

Keywords

stress sourcesCovid-19 pandemicdepression anxiety and stress scalemedical students
Type
Abstract
Information
European Psychiatry , Volume 65 , Special Issue S1: Abstracts of the 30th European Congress of Psychiatry , June 2022 , pp. S495 - S496
Creative Commons
Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BY
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2022. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of the European Psychiatric Association
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