Psychological Impairment and Coping Strategies During the COVID-19 Pandemic Among Students in Pakistan: A Cross-Sectional Analysis

High levels of stress are expected when crises affect people's lives. Therefore, this Web-based, cross-sectional study was conducted among university students from Pakistan to investigate the psychological impairment and coping strategies during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Google Forms were used to disseminate the online questionnaire to assess anxiety (Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7), depression (Patient Health Questionnaire-9), and coping strategies (Brief-COPE). A total of 1134 responses (age, 21.7 +/- 3.5 y) were included. The frequency of students having moderate-severe anxiety and depression (score >= 10) were approximate to 34% and 45%, respectively. The respondents' aged >= 31 y had significantly lower depression score than those <= 20 y (P = 0.047). Males had significantly less anxiety (6.62 +/- 5.70 vs 7.84 +/- 5.60; P = 0.001) and depression (8.73 +/- 6.84 vs 9.71 +/- 7.06; P = 0.031) scores. Those having family members, friends, or acquaintances infected with disease had significantly higher anxiety scores (8.89 +/- 5.74 vs 7.09 +/- 5.56; P < 0.001). Regarding coping strategies, the majority of respondents were found to have adopted religious/spiritual coping (6.45 +/- 1.68) followed by acceptance (5.58 +/- 1.65), self-distraction (4.97 +/- 1.61), and active coping (4.81 +/- 1.57). In conclusion, COVID-19 caused significant impairment on mental health of the students. The most frequent coping strategies adopted by students were religious/spiritual and acceptance coping. During epidemics, mental health of students should not be neglected.