October 21, 2021
Assessing the mental health of UW students during spring 2020
Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been growing concern over how social distancing and pandemic-related isolation have impacted mental health. Of significant interest is the pandemic’s impact on student mental health, recognizing the stressfulness of academia and navigating the uncertainty of 2020.
Coincidentally, a University of Washington study on student mental health was in progress while these events unfolded. The research team had been studying student mental health over the past four years. The overlap between the onset of the pandemic and the ongoing study provides insightful data on UW student mental health throughout the pandemic.
After surveying their 2020 study participants, the research team found little change in the average levels of students’ mental health symptoms between 2019 and 2020 or between the beginning and end of spring quarter 2020. The researchers did find that students with preexisting mental health symptoms expressed heightened symptoms during the pandemic. On a more upbeat note, the researchers found that students are emerging from this period with stronger skills for maintaining long-distance social connections and leveraging online resources.
This study received a 2020 Population Health Initiative pilot research grant and will continue to survey participants’ mental health until their initial undergraduate cohort graduates in spring 2022.