TY  - JOUR
AU  - Kleiman, Evan M
AU  - Yeager, April L
AU  - Grove, Jeremy L
AU  - Kellerman, John K
AU  - Kim, Joanne S
PY  - 2020
DA  - 2020/12/15
TI  - Real-time Mental Health Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on College Students: Ecological Momentary Assessment Study
JO  - JMIR Ment Health
SP  - e24815
VL  - 7
IS  - 12
KW  - ecological momentary assessment
KW  - college students
KW  - COVID-19, anxiety
KW  - real-time
KW  - mental health
KW  - impact
KW  - student
AB  - Background: College students’ mental health may be disproportionally affected by the COVID-19 pandemic because of the abrupt shift off campus and subsequent loss of a social network and potential long-term impact on job prospects. Objective: We sought to assess the nature of COVID-19’s mental health impact among a sample of undergraduates who were experiencing the pandemic as it occurred in real time. Methods: In total, 140 college students completed smartphone-based ecological momentary assessments of anxiety and optimism related to COVID-19 and other generic mental health variables 6 times daily. Results: Participants completed >23,750 surveys. Overall, >75% of these surveys indicated at least some level of anxiety about COVID-19. On average, the proportion of responses each day at the highest levels of anxiety about COVID-19 was 7 times greater than the proportion of responses at the highest levels of non–COVID-19–specific anxiety. Structural change analyses indicated a significant downward trend in COVID-19 anxiety after the first week of June, but even at the lowest point, >15% of the participants in the sample still reported high levels of COVID-19 anxiety each day. Participants felt more anxious about COVID-19 on days when the number of new cases and deaths due to COVID-19 were higher. When participants felt anxious about COVID-19, they also felt sad, anxious (in general), and had a greater desire to drink and use drugs. Participants felt more optimistic about COVID-19 when they received more support from others and from their university. Conclusions: This study demonstrated the widespread mental health impact that COVID-19 has had on college students. 
SN  - 2368-7959
UR  - http://mental.jmir.org/2020/12/e24815/
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2196/24815
UR  - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33207308
DO  - 10.2196/24815
ID  - info:doi/10.2196/24815
ER  -