Source: CNA
The effects of the Covid-19 disease pandemic on the quality of life and mental health of students in Cyprus are recorded in a study published in September 2021 by the Frederick University Mental Resilience Research Unit.
According to a statement, moral depression and pessimism about the future, anxiety and stress, suicidal tendencies, social isolation, embodiment of mental symptoms and personal isolation are the six stress factors identified in the research, which was published in the International Scientific Journal of Social Science Research and maps the negative consequences of measures to address the pandemic of Covid-19 disease in students of Cyprus Universities.
The survey (Hadjicharalambous, Demetriou, Erotocritou, 2021) involved 356 young people, 256 women (72%) and 100 men (28%). Six factors negatively affected the mental health and quality of life of the participants: Living without family, deteriorating family financial situation, job loss (unemployment), loss of social life, young age and gender.
In addition to the consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic itself, the investigation further showed that the strict lockdown and physical / social distancing measures taken to limit the spread of the virus adversely affected the study participants.
In particular, there were many who developed symptoms of increased anxiety, insomnia, social dysfunction, many of which also appeared as psychosomatic symptoms. Particularly negatively experienced by the pandemic were young people who lost their jobs during the pandemic or saw a significant reduction in family income and students who stayed away from their own during periods of severe lockdown.
It is noted that the research is a continuation of a previous study by the same research team, which was published in February 2021 in the European Journal of Social Sciences Studies (Dimitriou, Keramioti, Hadjicharalambous, 2021) and showed that a large percentage of students / three had to adapt online. (30%) experienced high levels of stress, which increased when students had to balance work with online courses in the midst of a pandemic.
The new research is the 7th in a row conducted by the Frederick University Mental Resilience Research Unit on the effects of the pandemic and the restrictive measures taken to address it in Cyprus since March 2020.
Dr. Lucia Dimitriou, Associate Professor of Psychology and President of the Department of Psychology and Social Sciences at Frederick University, states that the Department of Mental Resilience Research Unit has, since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, in the psyche of various social groups due to the measures taken to limit the spread of the disease in Cyprus and Greece.
It is reported that the Mental Resilience Research Unit is already in the process of conducting four more studies on the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic on three social groups that have not yet been investigated: children (6-12 years old), adolescents (12-18 years old). years) and the elderly (65+).
