Investigation of depression, anxiety and stress levels of health-care students during COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

Purpose: This study aims to determine depression, anxiety and stress levels of health-care students during coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic according to various socio-demographic variables Design/methodology/approach: This cross-sectional study was conducted with 933 students Data were collected with an information form on COVID- 19 and an electronic self-report questionnaire based on depression, anxiety and stress scale Findings: Findings revealed that 58% of the students experienced moderate-to-extremely severe depression, 39 8% experienced moderate-to-extremely severe anxiety and 38% experienced moderate-to-extremely severe stress Practical implications: Educational administrators can help reduce long-term negative effects on students’ education and mental health by enabling online guidance, psychological counseling and webinars for students Originality/value: This paper is original and adds to existing knowledge that health-care students’ depression, anxiety and stress levels were affected because of many factors that are not yet fully understood Therefore, psychological counseling is recommended to reduce the long-term negative effects on the mental health of university students © 2020, Emerald Publishing Limited