Dynamics of indicators of mental health and mental wellbeing among university students during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic

Introduction University students’ lifestyle has changed dramatically due to the spread of COVID-19. They had to face adaptation to the online learning format, as well as strict and long-term restriction of social contacts. Objectives To trace the dynamics in the main indicators of mental health (depression, anxiety, and stress) and mental wellbeing among students during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods DASS (Lovibond, Lovibond, 1995) and WEMWBS (Tennant et al., 2007) were applied in the research. The study involved 733 students at Russian universities aged from 18 to 23 years (M=20.0; SD=3.23), of which 88.1% were girls. The same design was used in the spring (N=245), in the autumn of 2020 (N=270) and in the winter of 2021 (N=218). Results It was found that the indicators for all DASS scales significantly differ (p<0.05) across the three periods. With Post Hoc Scheffe, it was shown that the levels of depression, anxiety and stress in autumn 2020 and winter 2021 were significantly higher than in spring 2020 (p<0.05). The WEMWBS values differ significantly (p<0.05) throughout the periods. The level of mental wellbeing among students in spring 2020 was significantly higher than in autumn 2020 and in winter 2021 (p<0.05). Conclusions It was revealed that despite the rather severe restrictions in Russia at the beginning of the pandemic, and relatively mild measures taken afterwards (compared to many countries), the indicators of students’ mental health as well as the level of their mental well-being continued to decline. The reported study was funded by RFBR, project number 20-04-60174. Disclosure No significant relationships.


EPV0421
The psychological impact of COVID-19 pandemic on healthcare professionals: A cross-sectional study M. Vouros 1 *, P. Koutoukoglou 2 and E. Jelastopulu 3 1 424 General Military Training Hospital, Psychiatric Dept., Thessaloniki, Greece; 2 424 General Military Training Hospital, Oncology Dept., Thessaloniki, Greece and 3 University of Patras, School of Medicine, Dept. Of Public Health, Patras, Greece *Corresponding author. doi: 10.1192/j.eurpsy.2022.1279 Introduction: The COVID-19 pandemic was immediately realized to pose a considerable threat both to the physical, and the mental health of people. For healthcare professionals, it marks frantic work rhythms, anxiety for their patients and exposure to an invisible enemy. Those who hold administrative positions are called upon to make unprecedented decisions, facing a high degree of uncertainty. Hence, hospital staff is expected to experience severe psychological distress. Objectives: The aim of this study was to investigate the psychological distress and possible associations with demographic characteristics, professional duties, hierarchy and predisposing factors to severe COVID-19 disease. Methods: Online questionnaires were distributed to all employees of two hospitals in Thessaloniki, Greece, from March until May 2021. The questionnaires comprised two sections, one concerning the aforementioned purported risk factors, and another involving three psychometric scales, i.e. Coronavirus Anxiety Scale, Coronavirus Reassurance-Seeking Behaviors Scale and Obsession with COVID-19 Scale. Results: The psychological pressure experienced by healthcare professionals was low, compared to the literature. A history of COVID-19 disease, existence of predisposing factors to severe COVID-19 illness and frequent contact with infected patients were shown to significantly increase the likelihood of psychological distress. Furthermore, an age of 30-34 years, a higher level of education, existence of infected family members and nonvaccination were identified as possible risk factors. Conclusions: Contrary to previous research results, our sample did not experience severe COVID-19-related psychological distress. Nevertheless, emphasis should be placed on initiatives to support the mental health of this professional group, as many of them do struggle with psychological difficulties. Introduction: University students' lifestyle has changed dramatically due to the spread of COVID-19. They had to face adaptation to the online learning format, as well as strict and long-term restriction of social contacts. Objectives: To trace the dynamics in the main indicators of mental health (depression, anxiety, and stress) and mental wellbeing among students during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: DASS (Lovibond, Lovibond, 1995) and WEMWBS (Tennant et al., 2007) were applied in the research. The study involved 733 students at Russian universities aged from 18 to 23 years (M=20.0; SD=3.23), of which 88.1% were girls. The same design was used in the spring (N=245), in the autumn of 2020 (N=270) and in the winter of 2021 (N=218). Results: It was found that the indicators for all DASS scales significantly differ (p<0.05) across the three periods. With Post Hoc Scheffe, it was shown that the levels of depression, anxiety and stress in autumn 2020 and winter 2021 were significantly higher than in spring 2020 (p<0.05). The WEMWBS values differ significantly (p<0.05) throughout the periods. The level of mental wellbeing among students in spring 2020 was significantly higher than in autumn 2020 and in winter 2021 (p<0.05). Conclusions: It was revealed that despite the rather severe restrictions in Russia at the beginning of the pandemic, and relatively mild measures taken afterwards (compared to many countries), the indicators of students' mental health as well as the level of their mental well-being continued to decline. The reported study was funded by RFBR, project number 20-04-60174. Introduction: The COVID-19 pandemic provoked emotional reactions in Russian student populations. Hardiness is seen as a personality predisposition that increases individuals' resilience to stress. Objectives: The study aimed to determine the severity of depression, anxiety, stress, and various components of hardiness in Russian students. In addition, the correlations between emotional reactions and hardiness components were also analysed. Methods: Data collection was carried out between 29 May and 06 July 2020. A total of 129 medical and non-medical students participated in the study. The DASS-21 was used to measure depression, anxiety, and stress levels, while the Personal Views Survey-III examined hardiness. Both questionnaires were adapted for use in Russia. Results: We found that medical students were less likely to be depressed than non-medical students (M = 4.03 and M = 6.01 respectively, p < 0.05). Medical students had higher levels of the component of hardiness such as commitment (M = 20.95 and M = 18.43 respectively, p < 0.05). In both groups, all hardiness components have negative relationships with depression, anxiety, and stress, but in the medical group control is associated only with depression (r x = -0.446, p < 0.01), whereas the other group also has associations with anxiety (r x = -0.356, p < 0.01) and stress (r x = -0.407, p < 0.01). Conclusions: Hardiness was negatively related to depression, anxiety, and stress in a pandemic setting. Medical students were more adaptable to the pandemic than non-medical students.
Disclosure: No significant relationships.

EPV0424
Impact of covid 19 outbreak on mental health of patients with cancer W. Sbika* and H. Belfekih Mohamed Taher Maamouri university Hospital, Department Of Medical Oncology, Nabeul, Tunisia *Corresponding author. doi: 10.1192/j.eurpsy.2022.1282 Introduction: The COVID19 outbreak was declared a public health emergency by The Word Health Organisation (WHO) on January 2020. By spring 2020, more than half of the world's population had experienced a lockdown with strict pandemic prevention such as physical distancing measures. The COVID-19 pandemic have negatively affected many people's mental health especially the ones who are at risk such as patients with cancer.
Objectives: This study aimed to screen mental health problems among patients with cancer during the fisrt wave of COVID 19. Methods: To assess the impact of COVID-19 outbreak on mental health of patients with cancer, a Survey was conducted at the department of medical oncology in Nabeul (Tunisia) between March and May 2020. The patients were asked to answer a sociodemographic questionnaire. The COVID-19 infection-related mental Heath problems were measured using the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS). Medical conditions and clinical characteristics were extracted from patients healthcare records. Results: The median age was 53 years (range, 34-70) with sex ratio 0.35. The majority of the patients had a social support (85%) and lived in urban areas (60%). Only 19 % of them had college degree. Almost quarter of patients had medical conditions. The most common cancer in our cohort was breast cancer (54%) followed by colorectal cancer (20%). Sixty four per cent of them were on adjuvant chemotherapy. Among the 80 person surveyed, 20% had depression and 39 % anxiety. Conclusions: Further investigations are required to screen mental health status for all cancer patients in order to help them coping.
Disclosure: No significant relationships. Keywords: cancer; mental health; COVID 19 outbreak; depression and anxiety