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COVID-19 and Lockdown, as Lived and Felt by University Students

Author

Listed:
  • Cátia Branquinho

    (Instituto de Saúde Ambiental (ISAMB), Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade de Lisboa (FMUL), 1649-028 Lisbon, Portugal
    Equipa Aventura Social, 1400-185 Lisbon, Portugal)

  • Fábio Botelho Guedes

    (Instituto de Saúde Ambiental (ISAMB), Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade de Lisboa (FMUL), 1649-028 Lisbon, Portugal
    Equipa Aventura Social, 1400-185 Lisbon, Portugal
    Faculdade de Motricidade Humana, Universidade de Lisboa (FMHUL), 1495-751 Lisbon, Portugal)

  • Ana Cerqueira

    (Instituto de Saúde Ambiental (ISAMB), Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade de Lisboa (FMUL), 1649-028 Lisbon, Portugal
    Equipa Aventura Social, 1400-185 Lisbon, Portugal
    Faculdade de Motricidade Humana, Universidade de Lisboa (FMHUL), 1495-751 Lisbon, Portugal)

  • Alexandra Marques-Pinto

    (Centro de Investigação em Ciência Psicológica, Faculdade de Psicologia, Universidade de Lisboa, 1649-013 Lisbon, Portugal)

  • Amélia Branco

    (GHES Research Center—Office of Economic and Social History, ISEG—Lisbon School of Economics & Management of the University of Lisbon, 1249-078 Lisbon, Portugal)

  • Cecília Galvão

    (Instituto de Saúde Ambiental (ISAMB), Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade de Lisboa (FMUL), 1649-028 Lisbon, Portugal
    Instituto de Educação, Universidade de Lisboa (IEUL), 1649-013 Lisbon, Portugal)

  • Joana Sousa

    (Instituto de Saúde Ambiental (ISAMB), Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade de Lisboa (FMUL), 1649-028 Lisbon, Portugal
    Laboratório de Nutrição, Universidade de Lisboa, 1649-028 Lisbon, Portugal)

  • Luís F. Goulão

    (Unidade de Investigação Linking Landscape, Environment, Agriculture and Food (LEAF), Instituto Superior de Agronomia, Universidade de Lisboa (ISAUL), 1349-017 Lisbon, Portugal)

  • Maria Rosário Bronze

    (Faculdade de Farmácia, Universidade de Lisboa (FFUL), 1649-003 Lisbon, Portugal
    Instituto de Biologia Experimental e Tecnológica (iBET), 2780-157 Lisbon, Portugal)

  • Wanda Viegas

    (Unidade de Investigação Linking Landscape, Environment, Agriculture and Food (LEAF), Instituto Superior de Agronomia, Universidade de Lisboa (ISAUL), 1349-017 Lisbon, Portugal)

  • Margarida Gaspar de Matos

    (Instituto de Saúde Ambiental (ISAMB), Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade de Lisboa (FMUL), 1649-028 Lisbon, Portugal
    Equipa Aventura Social, 1400-185 Lisbon, Portugal
    APPSYci, ISPA—Instituto Universitário, 1149-041 Lisbon, Portugal)

Abstract

In the last 2 years, the COVID-19 pandemic has spread all over the world, forcing the closure of universities, among other unusual measures in recent history. (1) Background: This work is based on the study HOUSE-ULisbon, a survey carried out during the second confinement (March–May 2021) in Portugal with the collaboration of all the Faculties of the University of Lisbon (UL). The present work aims to explore gender differences in how first-year college students experienced and felt COVID-19 and the second confinement. (2) Methods: A questionnaire was carried out. In total, 976 university students (19.66 years ( SD = 4.033); Min = 17 and Max = 65) from the first year of the UL were included, of which 69.5% ( n = 678) were female, and 30.5% were male ( n = 298). SPSS v. 26 was used for quantitative data and MAXQDA 2020 for qualitative data. (3) Results: Overall, students reported various symptoms of physical and mental discomfort (especially females). Statistically significant differences were found in the problems that could arise from the pandemic, such as the prevalence of higher anxiety and worries by females, and online gaming by males. In coping strategies, differences were found in leisure and family relationships, with greater difficulty on the female side. Social interaction was perceived as difficult or very difficult by both genders. As strategies for future pandemics, they highlighted a concerted effort between the government and media in the transmission of messages to the population, facilitating information, knowledge and adoption of protective behaviors. (4) Conclusions: These results are important data for activating or maintaining resources and services for first-year university students, who in some university institutions were supported during the pandemic by psychological, material (e.g., computers, internet), and financial support measures, which are now diminished or extinct. The impacts on their lives will certainly not be extinguished post-pandemic, and health, education, and public policy measures should be prioritized for this group. These results are important data for activating resources and services for students, informing health and education professionals, and supporting public policies.

Suggested Citation

  • Cátia Branquinho & Fábio Botelho Guedes & Ana Cerqueira & Alexandra Marques-Pinto & Amélia Branco & Cecília Galvão & Joana Sousa & Luís F. Goulão & Maria Rosário Bronze & Wanda Viegas & Margarida Gasp, 2022. "COVID-19 and Lockdown, as Lived and Felt by University Students," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(20), pages 1-10, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:20:p:13454-:d:945615
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Cuiyan Wang & Riyu Pan & Xiaoyang Wan & Yilin Tan & Linkang Xu & Cyrus S. Ho & Roger C. Ho, 2020. "Immediate Psychological Responses and Associated Factors during the Initial Stage of the 2019 Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) Epidemic among the General Population in China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(5), pages 1-25, March.
    2. Giorgio Di Pietro & Federico Biagi & Patricia Costa & Zbigniew Karpinski & Jacopo Mazza, 2020. "The likely impact of COVID-19 on education: Reflections based on the existing literature and recent international datasets," JRC Research Reports JRC121071, Joint Research Centre.
    3. Mikyung Jun & Songyi Lee & Taeeun Shim, 2021. "First-Year College Student Life Experiences during COVID-19 in South Korea," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(18), pages 1-18, September.
    4. Cátia Branquinho & Anabela Caetano Santos & Catarina Noronha & Lúcia Ramiro & Margarida Gaspar Matos, 2022. "COVID-19 Pandemic and the Second Lockdown: The 3rd Wave of the Disease Through the Voice of Youth," Child Indicators Research, Springer;The International Society of Child Indicators (ISCI), vol. 15(1), pages 199-216, February.
    5. Nicholas Grubic & Shaylea Badovinac & Amer M Johri, 2020. "Student mental health in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic: A call for further research and immediate solutions," International Journal of Social Psychiatry, , vol. 66(5), pages 517-518, August.
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