Observational Study
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2025. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Psychiatry. Jan 19, 2025; 15(1): 102012
Published online Jan 19, 2025. doi: 10.5498/wjp.v15.i1.102012
Posttraumatic stress symptoms among Chinese university students during the COVID-19 pandemic: Prevalence, correlates, and mental health help-seeking
Rui-Yao Wu, Lin-Feng Ge, Bao-Liang Zhong
Rui-Yao Wu, Lin-Feng Ge, Department of Psychiatry, The Affiliated Wuhan Mental Health Center, Tongji Medical College of Huazhong University of Science & Technology, Wuhan 430012, Hubei Province, China
Bao-Liang Zhong, Department of Psychiatry, Wuhan Mental Health Center, Wuhan 430012, Hubei Province, China
Co-first authors: Rui-Yao Wu and Lin-Feng Ge.
Author contributions: Zhong BL designed of the study, interpreted of data for the study, revised the paper critically for important intellectual content, and final approval of the version to be submitted; Wu RY and Ge LF acquired and analyzed of data for the study, interpreted of data for the study, and drafted the paper; All authors have read and approve the final manuscript.
Supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China, No. 71774060 (to Zhong BL); and the Young Top Talent Program in Public Health from Health Commission of Hubei Province, No. EWEITONG[2021]74 (to Zhong BL).
Institutional review board statement: The study protocol was approved by the Institutional Review Board at the Wuhan Mental Health Center (Approval No. KY2020.01).
Informed consent statement: The consent procedures of this study were approved by the Institutional Review Board at the Wuhan Mental Health Center. In this online questionnaire survey, an electronic invitation letter was sent to the university students, which detailed the background, significance, assurance of anonymity, and voluntary participation, along with a QR code linking to the survey questionnaire. Students who confirmed their willingness to participate by clicking an "agree" button were instructed to complete the online questionnaire.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All the authors report no relevant conflicts of interest for this article.
Data sharing statement: Data will be made available upon reasonable request from the corresponding author at haizhilan@gmail.com.
STROBE statement: The authors have read the STROBE Statement—checklist of items, and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the STROBE Statement—checklist of items.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Bao-Liang Zhong, MD, PhD, Associate Professor, Department of Psychiatry, Wuhan Mental Health Center, No. 89 Gongnongbing Road, Jiang'an District, Wuhan 430012, Hubei Province, China. haizhilan@gmail.com
Received: October 5, 2024
Revised: November 10, 2024
Accepted: November 19, 2024
Published online: January 19, 2025
Processing time: 74 Days and 1.4 Hours
Abstract
BACKGROUND

Revisiting the epidemiology of posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSSs) among university students during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic as well as understanding the mental health help-seeking behavior of individuals with PTSSs has critical implications for public mental health strategies in future medical pandemics.

AIM

To investigate the prevalence and correlates of PTSSs among university students during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in China and to examine mental health help-seeking behaviors among these students.

METHODS

A total of 2507 Chinese university students were recruited via snowball sampling. The students completed the Seven-item Screening Scale for Post-traumatic Stress Disorder during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in China. Sociodemographic characteristics, pandemic-related characteristics, and mental health help-seeking behaviors of students with PTSSs were also collected.

RESULTS

The prevalence of PTSSs among the participants was 28.0%. Seven significant correlates of PTSSs were identified (odds ratio = 1.23-3.65, P ≤ 0.024): Female sex, being 19 years old or older, living with others or alone, a low level of family economic status, fair or poor interpersonal relationships, severe or very severe local pandemic, and having family members diagnosed with COVID-19. However, only 3.28% of the students with PTSSs reported seeking help from mental health specialists. Among the 23 students who sought help from mental health specialists, 13 opted for online or telephone-based psychological consultation.

CONCLUSION

Our data suggest that there was a high risk of PTSSs among university students and a high level of unmet mental health needs during the COVID-19 pandemic. The delivery of mental health services online or via telephone is a promising approach to address these unmet needs.

Keywords: Posttraumatic stress symptoms; University students; COVID-19; Mental health help-seeking; China

Core Tip: The present study examined posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSSs) among university students during the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic and the mental health help-seeking behavior of individuals with PTSSs. As high as 28.0% of the university students had PTSSs. However, only 3.28% of the students with PTSSs reported seeking help from mental health specialists. Among those who used mental health services, 56.5% opted for online or telephone-based psychological consultations. In the context of potential future pandemics, the provision of mental health services online or via telephone is a promising approach for addressing the unmet mental health needs of individuals with PTSSs.