Education is protective against depressive symptoms in the context of COVID-19

Abstract

Objective

This study assessed current education stage (ie, undergraduate, graduate) as protective against depressive symptoms among a low socioeconomic status (SES) student population in a public university, in the context of COVID-19-related stressors.

Participants

Participants were students at The City University of New York (CUNY) during the Spring 2020.

Methods

Demographic data, symptom severity, and current educational stage were collected via an online university-wide survey between April 8, 2020 and May 2, 2020.

Results

The prevalence of probable depression was lower amongst persons who reported being currently in a more advanced educational stage compared to people currently in a lower educational stage. COVID-19-related stressor exposure was the largest predictor of depressive symptoms, followed by demographics and current education stage.

Conclusions

Current education stage is related to depressive symptoms during COVID-19. Pandemic-related educational disruptions and shifts to remote learning may limit educational achievement for low-SES student populations creating further threats to these students’ health.

Keywords:

• Education
• COVID-19
• stressors
• depression
• university students

Conflict of interest disclosure

The authors have no conflicts of interest to report. The authors confirm that the research presented in this article met the ethical guidelines, including adherence to the legal requirements, of the United States of America and received approval from the City College of New York.

Additional information

Funding

This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.