COVID-19 STRESSORS AND PSYCHOLOGICAL HEALTH CONDITIONS AMONG UNIVERSITY STUDENTS OVER TWO YEARS OF THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC: A REPEATED CROSS-SECTIONAL STUDY

The study aims at comparing university students’ perceived COVID-19-related stressors (Relationships and Academic Life, Isolation, Fear of Contagion) and psychological health over three times during the pandemic: April 2020-T1, April 2021-T2, April 2022-T3. COVID-19-related stressors predictivity of psychological disease was also evaluated three times. 567 students completed COVID-19 Student Stress -questionnaire and SCL-90-R (T1 n=197; T2 n=200; T3 n=170). Data revealed significantly higher levels of all COVID-19-related stressors from T1 to T2 and signi$cantly lower levels from T2 to T3. Psychological disease increased from T1 to T2 but remained unchanged from T2 to T3. All COVID-19-related stressors predicted psychological disease at T1 and T2. At T3 Relationships and Academic Life retained its full predictivity, while Isolation lost predictive power with respect to Anxiety and Hostility, and Fear of Contagion lost predictive power with respect to all psychological disorders except Somatization and Phobic-Anxiety. Despite a significant reduction, the impact of COVID-19-stressor related to changes in relationships has enduring effects on students’ psychological health and should be carefully considered to develop evidence-based interventions in the current post-pandemic period.