Loneliness, Belonging, and Mental Health in Australian University Students Pre- and Post-COVID-19

IF 1.5 4区心理学 Q3 PSYCHOLOGY, CLINICAL

Behaviour Change Pub Date : 2022-05-27 DOI:10.1017/bec.2022.6

G. Dingle, Rong Han, Molly Carlyle

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引用次数: 8

Abstract

Abstract The move to online learning during COVID-19 deprived first-year students of friendships and other sources of social support that could buffer against stress during their transition to university. These effects may have been worse for international students than domestic students as many were subjected to travel restrictions or quarantine in addition to the usual stressors. This study examined the impact of COVID-19 on social connectedness and mental health of first-year students enrolled in a metropolitan university in Australia. The study involved 1239 students (30.4% international) and used a 3 (cohorts: 2019, 2020, 2021) × 2 (enrolment status: domestic and international) between-group design. Results showed that both loneliness and university belonging were significantly worse during the first year of COVID-19 compared to the year before or after. Contrary to expectation, domestic students were lonelier than international students across all cohorts. Multiple-group memberships did not change. As predicted, loneliness was moderately to highly correlated with the number of stressors, psychological distress, and (lower) well-being, whereas university belonging and multiple-group memberships were related to positive mental health outcomes. These findings highlight the need for initiatives that promote student connectedness and mental health as the university sector recovers from COVID-19.

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澳大利亚大学生COVID-19前后的孤独感、归属感与心理健康

摘要新冠肺炎期间转向在线学习剥夺了一年级学生的友谊和其他社会支持来源，这些来源可以缓解他们在大学过渡期间的压力。对于国际学生来说，这些影响可能比国内学生更严重，因为除了通常的压力外，许多学生还受到旅行限制或隔离。这项研究调查了新冠肺炎对澳大利亚一所大都市大学一年级学生的社会联系和心理健康的影响。该研究涉及1239名学生（30.4%为国际学生），并使用了3（队列：2019、2020、2021）×2（入学状况：国内和国际）的组间设计。结果显示，与前一年或后一年相比，新冠肺炎第一年的孤独感和大学归属感都显著恶化。与预期相反，在所有的队列中，国内学生都比国际学生更孤独。多个组成员身份未更改。正如预测的那样，孤独感与压力源的数量、心理困扰和（较低的）幸福感中度到高度相关，而大学归属感和多个群体成员与积极的心理健康结果相关。这些发现突出表明，随着大学部门从新冠肺炎中复苏，需要采取举措促进学生的联系和心理健康。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Behaviour Change PSYCHOLOGY, CLINICAL-

CiteScore

2.70

自引率

0.00%

发文量

期刊介绍： Behaviour Change is the journal of the Australian Association for Cognitive and Behavioural Therapy and has long been considered a leader in its field. It is a quarterly journal that publishes research involving the application of behavioural and cognitive-behavioural principles and techniques to the assessment and treatment of various problems. Features of Behaviour Change include: original empirical studies using either single subject or group comparison methodologies review articles case studies brief technical and clinical notes book reviews special issues dealing with particular topics in depth.