Results:
Of the 936 Saudi university students who responded to the online
questionnaire, 57.8 % were < 23 years old, 56.4% were
females, 56.6% were residing in rural areas, and 82.9% were attending
at non-medical faculties. Most of the students reported wearing masks
(79.8% always and 17.5% sometimes), using detergents (81.5% always
and 13.4% sometimes), and applying social distancing (77.5% always and
20.6% sometimes) (Table
1).
About 41.1% of the studied Saudi university students reported
depression symptoms (31.7% mild to moderate and 9.4% severe to very
severe), 26.9% reported anxiety symptoms (15.8% mild to moderate and
11.1 % severe to very severe), and 22.4% reported stress symptoms
(15.2% mild to moderate and 7.2% severe to very severe) (Table 2).
Several factors were associated with depression, anxiety, and stress
symptoms. Of these factors, having a friend or relative infected with
COVID-19 was associated with depression (OR 1.95, 95% CI: 1.44-263) and
anxiety (OR 1.98, 95% CI: 1.44-2.72). The same psychological impacts
were detected among those with a friend or relative who died from the
COVID-19; depression (OR 1.86, 95% CI: 1.07-3.23) and anxiety (OR 1.95,
95% CI: 1.11-3.42). Watching/reading COVID-19 news ≥ 2 hours/day was
associated with depression, anxiety, and stress with OR (95% CI) of
1.50 (1.04-2.16), 1.88 (1.29-2.76), and 1.50 (1.00-2.52), respectively.
Besides, lack of perceived emotional support from family, society, and
university was significantly related to all studied forms of
psychological problems (Table 3).