This study examines the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on college students’ lives. A mixed methods approach, analyzing open- and closed-ended questions about challenges and opportunities, reveals numerous ways in which the pandemic has impacted students in general and differentially by gender, sexual orientation, race/ethnicity, and family income. Cisgender male and heterosexual students generally reported less of a mental health impact from the pandemic. Gender and sexual minorities, and low- to middle-income students, also noted some effects of the pandemic more often than their peers. Finally, thematic analysis revealed that where students found challenges, they also found opportunities within the broad categories of Lifestyle and Routines, Academic/Professional, Health, Interpersonal, and Societal impacts, evidencing heterogeneity and resilience in finding silver linings despite the challenging pandemic. This research has implications for equitably deploying and tailoring university and mental health resources both during and beyond the pandemic to improve student well-being and success.

本研究探讨了 COVID-19 大流行对大学生生活的影响。一种混合方法方法，分析有关挑战和机遇的开放式和封闭式问题，揭示了流行病对学生的总体影响以及性别、性取向、种族/民族和家庭收入不同的多种方式。顺性别男性和异性恋学生普遍报告说大流行对心理健康的影响较小。性别和性少数群体以及中低收入学生也比同龄人更频繁地注意到大流行的一些影响。最后，主题分析表明，在学生发现挑战的地方，他们也在生活方式和日常生活、学术/专业、健康、人际交往和社会影响等广泛类别中发现了机会，尽管具有挑战性的大流行，但证明了在寻找一线希望方面的异质性和弹性。这项研究对于在大流行期间和之后公平地部署和调整大学和心理健康资源以改善学生的福祉和成功具有重要意义。