Statement of problem

The COVID-19 pandemic is expected to negatively impact the mental health of university students, yet there is lack of prospective longitudinal data quantifying such changes. The purpose of this study was to examine the mental health and movement behaviours, and the associations between the changes in mental health and movement behaviours, of UK university students during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Methods

214 students enrolled in a longitudinal cohort study (mean age = 20.0 years; males = 28.0%, females = 72.0%) at an East Midlands UK University. Participants completed a self-report, online survey twice before (14/10/2019; T1 and 28/01/2020; T2) and twice during the UK ‘lockdown’ (20/03/2020; T3 and 27/04/2020; T4). Mental wellbeing, perceived stress, physical activity and sedentary behaviour were assessed at each time point. Repeated measures ANCOVA was used to assess changes in variables over time, whilst Pearson's correlation analysis tested for associations.

Results

During the first 5 weeks of ‘lockdown’ mental wellbeing and physical activity decreased ((F (2.2, 465.0) = 6.6, P < .0010 and (F (2.7, 591.0) = 4.8, P < .010 respectively)). Meanwhile, perceived stress and time spent sedentary increased ((F (2.5, 536.2) = 94.0, P < .0050 and (F (2.7, 578.9) = 41.2, P < .0001 respectively)). A positive association was found between Δ perceived stress and Δ sedentary behaviour (r = .18, P < .010).

Conclusion

The COVID-19 pandemic is negatively impacting the mental health and movement behaviour of UK university students, though no association between these constructs was identified.

中文翻译：

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英国大学生COVID-19大流行期间的心理健康和运动行为：前瞻性队列研究

问题陈述

预计COVID-19大流行会对大学生的心理健康产生负面影响，但尚缺乏量化此类变化的前瞻性纵向数据。这项研究的目的是研究在COVID-19大流行期间英国大学生的心理健康和运动行为，以及心理健康和运动行为变化之间的关联。

方法

214名学生参加了英国东米德兰兹大学的纵向队列研究（平均年龄= 20.0岁；男= 28.0％，女= 72.0％）。参与者在（14/10/2019; T1和28/01/2020; T2）之前完成了两次自我报告在线调查，在英国``封锁''期间（20/03/2020; T3和27/04/2020）完成了两次自我报告; T4）。在每个时间点评估心理健康，感觉压力，身体活动和久坐行为。重复测量ANCOVA用于评估变量随时间的变化，而Pearson的相关性分析则测试关联性。

结果

在“锁定”的前5周，心理健康和体育活动下降（（F（2.2，465.0）= 6.6，P <.0010和（F（2.7，591.0）= 4.8，P <.010））。 ，感觉压力和久坐时间增加（（F（2.5，536.2）= 94.0，P <.0050和（F（2.7，578.9）= 41.2，P <.0001））。应力和Δ久坐行为（r = .18，P <.010）。

结论

尽管未发现这两种结构之间的关联，但COVID-19大流行对英国大学生的心理健康和运动行为产生了负面影响。