Changes in stress predict worse mental health outcomes for college students than does loneliness; evidence from the COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

Objectives: Although loneliness and stress have been widely implicated in worse mental health outcomes for college students, the relationship between them remains poorly understood. Participants: Data were collected from 111 undergraduates at a large Midwestern university in fall 2019 - winter 2020. A subset (N = 34) of those responded to a follow-up survey during the COVID-19 pandemic (May 2020). Methods: At both time points, participants completed measures of loneliness and stress, as well as well-validated measures of depression and anxiety. Results: Prior to the pandemic, stress mediated the positive relationship between loneliness and depression. During the pandemic, mental health outcomes, stress, and loneliness all increased. Stress, but not loneliness, predicted college students’ worse mental health outcomes during the pandemic. Conclusions: Stress plays a key role in college students’ worsening mental health. Reducing loneliness may be a potential strategy to mitigate the negative impact of stress on college students’ mental health.

Keywords:

• College students
• COVID-19
• loneliness
• mental health
• stress

Acknowledgments

The authors thank Jenny Zhao, Anthony Morales, and Sarah Nawar for assistance with data collection.

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 Institutional Review Board at Indiana University.

Additional information

Funding

This project was supported by awards from the Project Development Team CTSI National Institutes of Health (NIH)/NCRR UL1TR001108 and the Office of the Vice President for Research at Indiana University.