Sociodemographic characteristics, preventive behaviors, and the mental health status of social work students in the US during the COVID-19 pandemic

ABSTRACT

Using data from a cross-sectional online survey among social work students (N = 457) in the US, our study explored differences in mental health status based on sociodemographic characteristics and preventive behaviors during the COVID-19 pandemic. Results showed disparate experiences related to anxiety, depression, self-harming thoughts, stress and hopelessness by age, gender, employment status, marital status, education, number of children, living arrangement, and mask-wearing and social distancing preventive behaviors. Findings provide implications to mitigate both the current and prolonged impact of the pandemic among social work students who will be playing crucial roles in the provision and delivery of health and human services.

KEYWORDS:

• College students
• social work students
• COVID-19
• mental health
• sociodemographic characteristics
• preventive behavior

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).