Saúde mental e estratégias de enfrentamento de universitários no contexto da pandemia de Covid-19

Abstract

The Covid-19 pandemic is hailed as the most important biological natural disaster in recent world history. The consequences are numerous and significant, not only because of the number of deaths and the social and economic impact, but also because of the psychological damage that can greatly affect mental health and exceed the coping capacity of people and groups, especially those who already had psychosocial vulnerabilities prior to the event. This research aims to analyze the mental health and coping strategies adopted by university students followed by the National Student Assistance Program (PNAES) of Campus III, UFPB, in the context of Covid-19. These are two empirical studies, one qualitative and the other quantitative. In the last one, the objective was to investigate the prevalence of symptoms of anxiety, depression and stress and the use of coping strategies by university students in the pandemic context. To this end, an online survey was conducted using three instruments (Sociodemographic data; Anxiety, Depression and Stress Scale; and the Brief-COPE). Data were analyzed using the SPSS program and 220 students aged between 18 and 46 years (M=23.41; SD=3.90) participated. The prevalence of anxiety, depression and stress was 53.64%, 54.55% and 51.36%, respectively. The results indicate that such levels are higher than those identified in the general Brazilian population. In addition, female students presented higher indicators of psychological distress. Considering the coping strategies, the most used were acceptance, self-distraction, planning and positive reinterpretation. The ways of coping that were significantly associated with higher psychological distress scores were the use of psychoactive substances and denial/distortion. Dedication to other activities and resignification were ways linked to positive emotional coping and proactive behaviors. Finally, the findings attest that male university students invested more in coping strategies that helped them to reframe the pandemic context, which was correlated with lower scores of depressive symptoms. The qualitative study aimed to characterize the psycho-emotional repercussions, the main stressors and the coping strategies used by students accompanied by student assistance at that university. In addition, we sought to investigate the preponderant difficulties facing the changes arising from the implementation of remote learning. The sample consisted of 15 students, aged between 20 and 28 years. Semi-structured interviews and thematic content analysis proposed by Bardin were used. From the interviews, 3 categories and 6 subcategories were established, which were constituted by 584 excerpts of speeches. All university students presented, in different intensities, psycho-emotional repercussions after the adoption of remote learning and the restrictive measures resulting from the Covid-19 pandemic. Fear and anxiety figured as prevalent emotions. There was a marked worsening of the mental illness of students who already had a previous psychiatric diagnosis. Among the main stressing indices, the sudden change in routine and withdrawal from the socio-affective network stood out. Economic issues involving even food insecurity situations were also mentioned. Most students negatively evaluated remote learning and pointed out several obstacles to the adaptation of this new system, such as compromised performance and learning, lack of preparation of teachers and students dealing with management of technologies and virtual environments and difficulty in accessing computers and good internet connection. They stated that receiving student aid during the pandemic positively influenced their permanence at university. As for the coping adopted to respond to the challenges triggered by this new context, the university students resorted to both problem-focused and emotion-focused strategies. Based on these results, it is possible to conclude that the context of the pandemic and remote education had unquestionably negative repercussions on the experiences and mental health of students in socioeconomic vulnerability accompanied by the PNAES. Such data may provide subsidies for the design and implementation of effective public policies in the promotion and care of mental health during and after situations of humanitarian emergencies and disasters, both within the scope of public policy on student assistance and also within the Unified Health System, thus expanding, discussions about intersectionality and the right to health, student assistance and decent living conditions.