TY - JOUR

T1 - Somatic and psychological distress among Russian university students during the COVID-19 pandemic

AU - Zolotareva, Alena

AU - Belousova, Svetlana

AU - Danilova, Irina

AU - Tseilikman, Vadim

AU - Lapshin, Maxim

AU - Sarapultseva, Lilia

AU - Makhniova, Svetlana

AU - Kritsky, Igor

AU - Ibragimov, Roman

AU - Hu, Desheng

AU - Komelkova, Maria

N1 - The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: This study was funded by RFBR and NSFC (project No.20-515-55003) and partly by the Government contract of the Institute of Immunology and Physiology (АААА-А21-121012090090-9).

PY - 2023/3/1

Y1 - 2023/3/1

N2 - Objective Previous studies highlighted a high prevalence of mental health issues among students during the COVID-19 pandemic, but there is no evidence from Russia. This study was aimed to examine the prevalence of somatic and psychological distress among Russian university students. Method The cross-sectional study was conducted in March-April 2021. The participants were university students from several regions of Russia (N = 1236). The Patient Health Questionnaire-15 and Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scales-21 were used to measure the somatic and psychological distress. Results The prevalence of somatic burden, depression, anxiety, and stress was 72.2%, 54.7%, 63.4%, and 55.4%, respectively. Somatic burden, anxiety, and stress were more frequently observed in females and students with experience of COVID-19 disease compared to males and students without experience of COVID-19 disease. Conclusions These data illuminate the high prevalence and potential risk factors for somatic and psychological distress among Russian university students and determine the importance of psychoeducation and preventive measures in the Russian university environment.

AB - Objective Previous studies highlighted a high prevalence of mental health issues among students during the COVID-19 pandemic, but there is no evidence from Russia. This study was aimed to examine the prevalence of somatic and psychological distress among Russian university students. Method The cross-sectional study was conducted in March-April 2021. The participants were university students from several regions of Russia (N = 1236). The Patient Health Questionnaire-15 and Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scales-21 were used to measure the somatic and psychological distress. Results The prevalence of somatic burden, depression, anxiety, and stress was 72.2%, 54.7%, 63.4%, and 55.4%, respectively. Somatic burden, anxiety, and stress were more frequently observed in females and students with experience of COVID-19 disease compared to males and students without experience of COVID-19 disease. Conclusions These data illuminate the high prevalence and potential risk factors for somatic and psychological distress among Russian university students and determine the importance of psychoeducation and preventive measures in the Russian university environment.

UR - https://gateway.webofknowledge.com/gateway/Gateway.cgi?GWVersion=2&SrcAuth=tsmetrics&SrcApp=tsm_test&DestApp=WOS_CPL&DestLinkType=FullRecord&KeyUT=000843811200001

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?partnerID=8YFLogxK&scp=85136554272

U2 - 10.1177/00912174221123444

DO - 10.1177/00912174221123444

M3 - Article

VL - 58

SP - 119

EP - 129

JO - The International Journal of Psychiatry in Medicine

JF - The International Journal of Psychiatry in Medicine

SN - 0091-2174

IS - 2

ER -