Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on Psychical Health and Social Relationships Among University Students

Abstract

Summary We have never faced such a global pandemic as COVID-19 in modern history. It´s important for us to find out how it can affect mental health and social relationships of students. This pandemic has brought us not only the risk of dying from a viral infection, but also brought the enormous psychological pressure on people. Purpose of this study was to determine the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on mental health and social relationships of university students. Methods: The research group consisted of 95 students of the Faculty of Sports of the University of Prešov in Prešov (men: n = 62, women: n = 33) with an average age of 22 +/- 6 years. As a method of data collection we used the standardized questionnaire of the World Health Organization - WHOQOL-BREF. Our modified WHOQOL-BREF questionnaire represents a selection of 9 items, six of them represent mental health: (1) Positive feeling (2) Self-esteem (3) Thinking, learning, memory and concentration (4) Bodily image and appearance, (5) Satisfy with you, (6) Negative feelings, and three represent social relationships (7) Personal relationships, (8) Sexual activity, (9) Social support. Due to the extraordinary pandemic situation an online survey was conducted to the students. Students had time to complete the questionnaire from 17.11.2021 to 19.11.2021. Results: Statistical significant difference between periods before and during COVID-19 pandemic was determined using the Wilcoxon paired t test. There were statistically significant differences in the psychological experience and social relationships of university students before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. Conclusion: We recommend monitoring the mental health of university students and raising awareness of various media platforms about psychological problems during a pandemic.