The Mental Health of German Students During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract. Theoretical background: The COVID-19 pandemic has changed the daily lives of students completely. Studies indicated that psychology students may be less stressed during the pandemic than other students. This study compares psychology students and students from other disciplines regarding their mental health, alcohol consumption, and partnerships after the third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: The study sample consisted of n = 127 psychology students and n = 579 students from other disciplines at the TU Braunschweig in Germany who participated in an online survey in June / July of 2021. To analyze the differences between the psychology students and students from other disciplines after the third wave, we calculated t-tests, Chi²-tests, and U-tests separately for female and male students. Results: Significantly fewer female psychology students were above the cut-off values for clinically relevant depressive symptoms (31.5 %; p  < .001, Cramer’s  V = .32) and anxiety symptoms (22.2 %; p < .001, Cramer’s V = .27) than other female students (depressive symptoms: 66.1 %; anxiety symptoms: 41.9 %). The small sample of male psychology students showed similar tendencies. While female psychology students rated their general health and life satisfaction higher than other female students, male psychology students were less concerned about their professional future than their respective counterparts. No differences were found concerning alcohol consumption and partnerships. Conclusion: We found indications that psychology students, especially female students, are less psychologically distressed after the third wave than students from other disciplines. Better mental health knowledge could be an explanation for this.