Research on the mental health of college students during the COVID-19 pandemic—A case study of universities in Nanjing

In response to recurring COVID-19 outbreaks, universities have generally implemented closed-off campus management strategies, subjecting students to multifaceted psychological stressors. This study aims to investigate the mental health status of university students in Nanjing during campus lockdowns, analyze distribution patterns across different academic years, majors, and family functioning backgrounds, and provide a reference for mental health assessment and intervention. The mental health of college students in Nanjing was assessed using the Self-Rating Anxiety Scale (SAS), Self-Rating Depression Scale (SDS), and Family APGAR. Among 772 valid responses, the prevalence of anxiety and depression was 15.7% and 23.3%, respectively, with scores significantly exceeding national norms. Significant differences in anxiety and depression levels were observed across majors, academic years, and family backgrounds. Specifically, humanities students reported the highest levels of depression, whereas medical students reported the lowest. Anxiety and depression were positively correlated with academic year and negatively correlated with family functioning scores. These findings reveal the status and characteristics of students' mental health during the pandemic. The study underscores the critical need to strengthen psychological support, enhance home-school communication, establish effective information-sharing platforms, and build a stratified and targeted intervention system to mitigate the pandemic's adverse effects.