摘要：The COVID-19 pandemic caused oncein-a-lifetime disruptions of daily life for many students, such as the closure of the university and campus. We wanted to study the general frequency of mental health problems, social behaviors, and pandemic-related concerns in the 2 weeks following a university shut down — and whether these variables change and influence each other over time. Method: In March 2020, at the start of the outbreak in The Netherlands, we used Ecological Momentary Assessment to follow 80 bachelor students 4 times per day for 14 days, assessing mental health, social contact, and COVID-19 related variables. Results: Despite rapidly increasing rates of infections and deaths, feelings of anxiety, loneliness, and COVID-19 related concerns decreased, especially in the first few days. Other mental health variables, such as stress levels, remained stable, while depressive symptoms increased. Despite social distancing measures implemented by the Dutch government halfway through our study, students showed no changes in the frequency of in-person social activities. Dynamic network models identified vicious cycles between mental health variables and being alone, which predicted concerns about COVID-19 and was followed by further mental health problems. Conclusions: Our study highlights that the impact of the early onset of the pandemic on mental health in students appears to differ for different aspects of mental health. This emphasizes the importance of monitoring and investigating mental health at a dynamic and fine-grained level.
