Fatores relacionados aos transtornos mentais comuns em universitários durante a pandemia de COVID-19.

Abstract

In the literature, several studies point to the particular vulnerability of university students to the development of common mental disorders associated with strenuous academic routine, among other factors. In the presence of the pandemic, considering the strong impact on mental health of this group, the present study seeks to analyze the factors related to mental disorders common in university students during the COVID-19 pandemic. Specifically, it aims to evaluate the relationship between academic experience in the remote regime, self-efficacy in higher education and social isolation with these disorders. For this, quantitative research was carried out with a correlational design, of the ex post facto type, with a non-probabilistic sample of 187 university students, over 18 years old, enrolled in undergraduate courses of Higher Education Institutions in the country. This research was approved by the Research Ethics Committee of the National Reference Center on Sanitary Dermatology Dona Libânia - CRNDSDL, with the number of opinion 5.120.506. Data were collected online through self-report questionnaires inserted in the Google Forms platform. The instruments used were the Anxiety, Depression and Stress Scale (EADS-21), the Self-Efficacy Scale for Higher Education (EAFS) and a sociodemographic questionnaire to characterize the sample and to obtain data regarding the Covid-19 pandemic regarding academic experience during the remote regimen. The data obtained were analysed and multivariate, through the Statistical Package of Social Sciences (SPSS) program, version 21. Specifically, measures of central tendency and variability were used to characterize the sample, as well as variance analyses and correlation analyses to verify the relationships between the study variables. The results suggest that the negative evaluation of the experience with the remote regime is related, in some way, to the psychological suffering and illness of the students. Similarly, the five dimensions of self-efficacy in higher education presented negative and statistically significant correlations with common mental disorders. Moreover, social isolation was positively and significantly correlated with these disorders. Finally, new studies are suggested that can solve the shortcomings of this study. Keywords: Anxiety. Depression. Stress, Psychological. Students. Covid-19