Data_Sheet_1_Mental Health Impacts in Argentinean College Students During COVID-19 Quarantine.docx

Background: We aimed to: (1) analyze differences in both general (in terms of psychological well-being/discomfort, social functioning and coping, and psychological distress) and specific (depression, trait-anxiety, negative alcohol-related consequences, and suicidal risk) mental health state (MHS) in college students, residing in four different Argentinean regions (center, north, south, and the most populated) exposed to different spread-rates of the COVID-19; (2) analyze between-group differences in both general and specific MHS indicators at four quarantine sub-periods (twice prior, and twice following the first quarantine extension).
Methods: We used a cross-sectional design with a convenience sample including 2,687 college students. Data was collected online during the Argentinean quarantine. We calculated one-way between-groups ANOVA with Tukey's post hoc test.
Results: Regionally, the center and the most populated area differed in psychological well-being/discomfort and negative alcohol-related consequences, but not in the remaining MHS indicators. According to the quarantine sub-periods, there were differences in psychological well-being/discomfort, social functioning and coping, psychological distress, and negative alcohol-related consequences. Negative alcohol-related consequences were the only MHS indicator improving over time. For all of the remaining MHS indicators, we found a similar deterioration pattern in the course of time, with mean scores decreasing from the first to the 2nd week of the quarantine pre-extensions, then increasing toward the 1st week of the quarantine post-extension (with some MHS indicators reaching mean scores worse than the start), and then continued to increase.
Conclusion: A worsened mean MHS during quarantine suggests that quarantine and its extensions contribute to negative mental health impacts.

研究背景：本研究旨在达成两项核心目标：其一，分析居住于阿根廷四个不同区域（中部、北部、南部及人口最稠密地区）、暴露于不同新冠病毒（COVID-19）传播速率环境中的大学生，其一般心理健康状态（涵盖心理幸福感/不适、社会功能与应对方式，以及心理困扰）与特异性心理健康状态（包括抑郁、特质性焦虑、酒精相关不良后果及自杀风险）的差异（上述两类均属心理健康状态（Mental Health State，缩写MHS））；其二，分析四次隔离亚阶段（首次隔离延长前两次、延长后两次）中，一般与特异性MHS指标的组间差异。
研究方法：本研究采用横断面研究设计，通过便利抽样纳入2687名大学生。数据于阿根廷疫情隔离期间通过线上渠道采集。本研究采用单因素组间方差分析（one-way between-groups ANOVA）结合Tukey事后检验（Tukey's post hoc test）进行统计分析。
研究结果：区域维度上，中部与人口最稠密地区在心理幸福感/不适及酒精相关不良后果两项指标上存在显著组间差异，其余MHS指标则无明显组间差异。按隔离亚阶段分组分析显示，心理幸福感/不适、社会功能与应对方式、心理困扰及酒精相关不良后果四项MHS指标均存在显著组间差异。其中，酒精相关不良后果是唯一随时间推移得到改善的MHS指标。其余所有MHS指标均呈现相似的随时间恶化趋势：得分自隔离延长前第一周至第二周逐步下降，随后在隔离延长后第一周回升至低于初始水平的状态（部分MHS指标的平均得分甚至劣于研究初始阶段），并在此后持续攀升。
研究结论：隔离期间大学生的平均MHS水平普遍恶化，这表明隔离措施及其延长政策会对个体心理健康产生显著负面影响。