摘要：Starting college or university life comes with major life changes: living separate from family, having to adapt socially, academically, or even culturally. This may make novice students, incl. international students, more vulnerable to the (socially) restrictive measures of the COVID-19 pandemic, and warrant specific prevention and early intervention strategies for these groups. Method: This presentation highlights findings from two ongoing studies: In Study 1 we examined depressive symptoms, suicidal ideation, alcohol use, anxiety, academic stress, insomnia, and loneliness in 3 consecutive university student cohorts (2020, N = 135; 2019, N = 111; 2018, N = 207). In Study 2 we examined the 6-month prevalence of adjustment disorder (AD), posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and wellbeing in a subcohort of the ESTSS COVID-19 population study: first-year Bachelor students from 4 universities in The Netherlands (n = 879). Results: In Study 1, international students reported more depressive symptoms, suicidal ideation, anxiety, and academic stress than native students in the 2020 cohort. Across time points, international students reported more academic stress, but less loneliness, than native students. In Study 2, at 6 months into the pandemic, students’ prevalence of AD and PTSD were lower (both 15%) than in participants from the general population (PTSD: 17%, AD: 26%). However, students also reported lower levels of wellbeing and higher burden due to physical and social restrictions than non-students. Conclusions: In conclusion, while students appear resilient in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, the mental health of international students and long-term health and wellbeing effects of restrictive measures may warrant more attention – during the pandemic and beyond.
