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Psychological distress among health professional students during the COVID-19 outbreak.
- Source :
-
Psychological Medicine . Aug2021, Vol. 51 Issue 11, p1952-1954. 3p. - Publication Year :
- 2021
-
Abstract
- Background: Due to the drastic surge of COVID-19 patients, many countries are considering or already graduating health professional students early to aid professional resources. We aimed to assess outbreak-related psychological distress and symptoms of acute stress reaction (ASR) in health professional students and to characterize individuals with potential need for interventions. Methods: We conducted a prospective cohort study of 1442 health professional students at Sichuan University, China. At baseline (October 2019), participants were assessed for childhood adversity, stressful life events, internet addiction, and family functioning. Using multivariable logistic regression, we examined associations of the above exposures with subsequent psychological distress and ASR in response to the outbreak. Results: Three hundred and eighty-four (26.63%) participants demonstrated clinically significant psychological distress, while 160 (11.10%) met the criterion for a probable ASR. Individuals who scored high on both childhood adversity and stressful life event experiences during the past year were at increased risks of both distress (ORs 2.00–2.66) and probable ASR (ORs 2.23–3.10), respectively. Moreover, internet addiction was associated with elevated risks of distress (OR 2.05, 95% CI 1.60–2.64) and probable ASR (OR 2.15, 95% CI 1.50–3.10). By contrast, good family functioning was associated with decreased risks of distress (OR 0.43, 95% CI 0.33–0.55) and probable ASR (OR 0.48, 95% CI 0.33–0.69). All associations were independent of baseline psychological distress. Conclusions: Our findings suggest that COVID-19 related psychological distress and high symptoms burden of ASR are common among health professional students. Extended family and professional support should be considered for vulnerable individuals during these unprecedented times. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Subjects :
- *ADVERSE childhood experiences
*CONFIDENCE intervals
*SOCIAL support
*HEALTH occupations students
*RISK assessment
*PSYCHOSOCIAL factors
*DESCRIPTIVE statistics
*INTERNET addiction
*FAMILY relations
*LOGISTIC regression analysis
*ODDS ratio
*COVID-19 pandemic
*PSYCHOLOGICAL distress
*LONGITUDINAL method
*PSYCHOLOGICAL stress
Subjects
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 00332917
- Volume :
- 51
- Issue :
- 11
- Database :
- Academic Search Index
- Journal :
- Psychological Medicine
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- 152012906
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.1017/S0033291720001555