Citation

Liang SW, Liu LL, Peng XD, Chen JB, Huang A, Wang XY, Zhao JB, Fan F, Liu XC. BMC Psychiatry 2022; 22(1): e336.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2022, Holtzbrinck Springer Nature Publishing Group - BMC)

DOI

10.1186/s12888-022-03968-2

PMID

35570282

PMCID

PMC9107580

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, a major public health crisis, harms individuals' mental health. This 3-wave repeated survey aimed to examine the prevalence and correlates of suicidal ideation at different stages of the COVID-19 pandemic in a large sample of college students in China.

METHODS: Using a repeated cross-sectional survey design, we conducted 3 online surveys of college students during the COVID-19 pandemic at 22 universities in Guandong, China. The 3 surveys were conducted during the outbreak period (T1: 3 February to 10 February 2020, N = 164,101), remission period (T2: 24 March to 3 April 2020, N = 148,384), and normalized prevention and control period (T3: 1 June to 15 June 2020, N = 159,187). Suicidal ideation was measured by the ninth item of the Patient Health Questionnaire-9. A range of suicide-related factors was assessed, including sociodemographic characteristics, depression, anxiety, insomnia, pre-existing mental health problems, and COVID-19-related factors.

RESULTS: The prevalence of suicidal ideation was 8.5%, 11.0% and 12.6% at T1, T2, and T3, respectively. Male sex (aOR: 1.35-1.44, Ps < 0.001), poor self-perceived mental health (aOR: 2.25-2.81, Ps < 0.001), mental diseases (aOR: 1.52-2.09, P < 0.001), prior psychological counseling (aOR: 1.23-1.37, Ps < 0.01), negative perception of the risk of the COVID-19 epidemic (aOR: 1.14-1.36, Ps < 0.001), depressive symptoms (aOR: 2.51-303, Ps < 0.001) and anxiety symptoms (aOR: 1.62-101.11, Ps < 0.001) were associated with an increased risk of suicidal ideation.

CONCLUSION: Suicidal ideation appeared to increase during the COVID-19 pandemic remission period among college students in China. Multiple factors, especially mental health problems, are associated with suicidal ideation. Psychosocial interventions should be implemented during and after the COVID-19 pandemic to reduce suicide risk among college students.

Language: en

Keywords

Humans; Cross-Sectional Studies; Risk Factors; Male; Risk factors; College students; Prevalence; Suicidal Ideation; Suicidal ideation; SARS-CoV-2; COVID-19 pandemic; Pandemics; *COVID-19/epidemiology; Students/psychology; China/epidemiology; Depression/epidemiology/psychology