Psychological impact of COVID-19 pandemic on university students: Turkey sample

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has affected almost all over the world and created a great psychological impact on society as well as causing a life-threatening situation Aim: To describe the psychological impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on healthcare worker candidate university students Methods: The population of this descriptive and cross-sectional study consisted of students studying at health-related departments in three universities in Turkey The data were collected from 855 students determined with the cluster sampling method using the online survey method A questionnaire developed by the researchers and Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI) was used to collect data Percentage, mean, standard deviation, t-test, one-way ANOVA test, Pearson correlation, and linear regression analysis were employed to evaluate the data Results: It was found that the mean age of the students was 20 85±2 37 years (min: 18;max: 41), 80 5% were women, 38 0% were nursing students, 13 7% had a family member with the diagnosis of COVID-19 Students' BAI mean score was found as 29 00±7 8 According to the multiple linear regression analysis, factors affecting students' anxiety scores significantly were being female, negatively affected sleep and nutrition patterns, decreased motivation, increased stress level, and having a family member with the diagnosis of COVID-19 Conclusion: Students experience severe anxiety due to COVID-19 Being a woman, negatively affected sleep, and nutrition, reduced motivation, increased stress level and having a family diagnosed with COVID-19 are factors affecting the level of anxiety It is recommended that governments create intervention programs on psychological health and provide psychosocial support to young people through online training during and after the pandemic © 2020 Lahore Medical And Dental College All rights reserved