Browsing by Author "Dixe, Maria Anjos"
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- Mental health and psychological impact during COVID-19 pandemic: an online survey of Portuguese higher education studentsPublication . Laranjeira, Carlos; Dixe, Maria Anjos; Valentim, Olga; Charepe, Zaida; Querido, AnaThe COVID-19 pandemic has had significant psychological impact on vulnerable groups, particularly students. The present study aims to investigate the mental and psychological impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and associated factors in a sample of Portuguese higher education students. An online cross-sectional study was conducted among 1522 higher education students selected by convenience sampling. The survey assessed mental health symptoms as well as sociodemographic variables, health-related perceptions, and psychological factors. Results were fitted to binary and multivariable logistic regression models. The overall prevalences of stress, anxiety, and depression were 35.7%, 36.2%, and 28.5%, respectively. Poor mental health outcomes were related with being female, having no children, living with someone with chronic disease, facing hopelessness, and lacking resilient coping. Future studies focusing on better ways to promote mental health and wellbeing among students are warranted. It is necessary to gather more evidence on the post-pandemic mental health using robust study designs and standardized assessment tools.
- Psychological responses and strategies towards the COVID-19 pandemic among higher education students in Portugal and Switzerland: a mixed-methods studyPublication . Schwander-Maire, Françoise; Querido, Ana; Cara-Nova, Tanya; Dixe, Maria Anjos; Aissaoui, Djamel; Charepe, Zaida; Christie, Derek; Laranjeira, CarlosBackground: The COVID-19 pandemic has caused overwhelming changes in individual and community daily-life, resulting from the public health measures implemented to contain it, and also from its psychological and socio-economic consequences. These shifts and consequences impacted the entire population, but some groups are more likely to be affected by these changes, including higher education students. Objectives: a) to investigate mental health status and its determinants among higher-education students in Portugal and Switzerland; and b) to explore adjustment patterns used by these students to overcome the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: A cross-sectional study with a mixed-methods sequential explanatory design was conducted in two phases. First, an online survey was conducted among higher education students in Portugal and Switzerland, in Portuguese and French respectively. A convenience sampling method was used. Second, some participants from the first phase were invited to participate in four online focus group discussions (two in each country) using a maximum variation sampling method. Results: The survey was answered by 1,880 students. Portuguese students revealed higher levels of stress and anxiety, but lower depression symptoms and less resilient coping compared to Swiss respondents. Hope was identified as an explanatory variable for mental health symptoms in students from both countries. In the focus groups (n = 27), 13 adjustment strategies were found, which were subdivided into three spheres: personal, social, and contextual. Conclusions: The results suggest that the COVID-19 pandemic had a mild to moderate impact on most of the evaluated mental health variables. Nevertheless, the students reacted and mobilized positive short-term strategies, which need to be reinforced in order to prevent long-term psychological harm. In addition, our results can inform psychosocial interventions to minimize psychological impact, anxiety, depression, and stress due to sanitary crises or other population-wide problems or disasters.