PMID- 37529437
OWN - NLM
STAT- MEDLINE
DCOM- 20230803
LR  - 20230803
IS  - 2296-2565 (Electronic)
IS  - 2296-2565 (Linking)
VI  - 11
DP  - 2023
TI  - Mental health trajectories in university students across the COVID-19 pandemic: 
      findings from the Student Wellbeing at Northern England Universities prospective 
      cohort study.
PG  - 1188690
LID - 10.3389/fpubh.2023.1188690 [doi]
LID - 1188690
AB  - INTRODUCTION: Psychological wellbeing in university students is receiving 
      increased focus. However, to date, few longitudinal studies in this population 
      have been conducted. As such, in 2019, we established the Student Wellbeing At 
      Northern England Universities (SWANS) cohort at the University of York, United 
      Kingdom aiming to measure student mental health and wellbeing every six months. 
      Furthermore, the study period included the COVID-19 pandemic, giving an 
      opportunity to track student wellbeing over time, including over the pandemic. 
      METHODS: Eligible participants were invited to participate via email. Data were 
      collected, using Qualtrics, from September 2019 to April 2021, across five waves 
      (W1 to W5). In total, n = 4,622 students participated in at least one wave of the 
      survey. Data collection included sociodemographic, educational, personality 
      measures, and mental health and wellbeing. Latent profile analyses were 
      performed, exploring trajectories of student wellbeing over the study period for 
      those who had completed at least three of the five waves of the survey (n = 765), 
      as measured by the Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Wellbeing Scale (WEMWBS). RESULTS: 
      Five latent profile trajectories of student wellbeing were identified. Of these, 
      the two latent classes with initially higher wellbeing scores had broadly stable 
      wellbeing across time (total n = 505, 66%). Two classes had lower initial scores, 
      which lowered further across time (total n = 227, 30%). Additionally, a fifth 
      class of students was identified who improved substantially over the study 
      period, from a mean WEMWBS of 30.4 at W1, to 49.4 at W5 (n = 33, 4%). Risk 
      factors for having less favourable wellbeing trajectories generally included 
      identifying as LGBT+, self-declaring a disability, or previously being diagnosed 
      with a mental health condition. CONCLUSION: Our findings suggest a mixed picture 
      of the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on student wellbeing, with a majority 
      showing broadly consistent levels of wellbeing across time, a smaller but still 
      substantial group showing a worsening of wellbeing, and a small group that showed 
      a very marked improvement in wellbeing. Those from groups traditionally 
      underrepresented in higher education were most at risk of poorer wellbeing. This 
      raises questions as to whether future support for wellbeing should target 
      specific student subpopulations.
CI  - Copyright (c) 2023 Paton, Tiffin, Barkham, Bewick, Broglia, Edwards, Knowles, 
      McMillan and Heron.
FAU - Paton, Lewis W
AU  - Paton LW
AD  - Hull York Medical School, University of York, York, United Kingdom.
AD  - Department of Health Sciences, University of York, York, United Kingdom.
FAU - Tiffin, Paul A
AU  - Tiffin PA
AD  - Hull York Medical School, University of York, York, United Kingdom.
AD  - Department of Health Sciences, University of York, York, United Kingdom.
FAU - Barkham, Michael
AU  - Barkham M
AD  - Department of Psychology, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, United Kingdom.
FAU - Bewick, Bridgette M
AU  - Bewick BM
AD  - School of Medicine, University of Leeds, Leeds, United Kingdom.
FAU - Broglia, Emma
AU  - Broglia E
AD  - Department of Psychology, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, United Kingdom.
AD  - Student Mental Health, Counselling and Therapies Service, The University of 
      Sheffield, Sheffield, United Kingdom.
FAU - Edwards, Lisa
AU  - Edwards L
AD  - Faculty of Health Studies, University of Bradford, Bradford, United Kingdom.
FAU - Knowles, Louise
AU  - Knowles L
AD  - Student Mental Health, Counselling and Therapies Service, The University of 
      Sheffield, Sheffield, United Kingdom.
FAU - McMillan, Dean
AU  - McMillan D
AD  - Hull York Medical School, University of York, York, United Kingdom.
AD  - Department of Health Sciences, University of York, York, United Kingdom.
FAU - Heron, Paul N
AU  - Heron PN
AD  - Department of Health Sciences, University of York, York, United Kingdom.
LA  - eng
PT  - Journal Article
PT  - Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
DEP - 20230717
PL  - Switzerland
TA  - Front Public Health
JT  - Frontiers in public health
JID - 101616579
SB  - IM
MH  - Humans
MH  - *Mental Health
MH  - Universities
MH  - Pandemics
MH  - Prospective Studies
MH  - *COVID-19/epidemiology
MH  - England/epidemiology
MH  - Students/psychology
PMC - PMC10387533
OTO - NOTNLM
OT  - COVID-19
OT  - latent trajectories
OT  - longitudinal
OT  - students
OT  - wellbeing
COIS- The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any 
      commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential 
      conflict of interest.
EDAT- 2023/08/02 06:42
MHDA- 2023/08/03 06:43
PMCR- 2023/07/17
CRDT- 2023/08/02 03:57
PHST- 2023/03/17 00:00 [received]
PHST- 2023/06/12 00:00 [accepted]
PHST- 2023/08/03 06:43 [medline]
PHST- 2023/08/02 06:42 [pubmed]
PHST- 2023/08/02 03:57 [entrez]
PHST- 2023/07/17 00:00 [pmc-release]
AID - 10.3389/fpubh.2023.1188690 [doi]
PST - epublish
SO  - Front Public Health. 2023 Jul 17;11:1188690. doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2023.1188690. 
      eCollection 2023.