Before COVID, university and vocational education students were at high risk of developing mental disorders, such as depression and anxiety. This is because they already experience much higher levels of psychological distress than the general population.
But since COVID, this group is even more at risk. Our study has found the percentage of university and vocational education students reporting extremely high levels of distress during the pandemic (23%) was higher than before the pandemic (19%).
We also compared the percentage of Australian adults in the general population reporting extremely high levels of distress before (3%) and during (13%) COVID. In this population, too, distress levels have increased significantly.
So, overall, the percentage of tertiary students reporting extremely high levels of distress (23%) has remained much higher than for adults in the general population (13%).
Women and international students among worst-affected
Pandemics increase the amount of stressors people are subjected to for a number of reasons. In university students, these include health impacts associated with illness, worrying about becoming ill, being unable to work, having to study online, and being separated from friends and family.
Results of studies conducted in the United States and China have also shown COVID has increased levels of distress and mental health problems in university students.
