Christophe Tzourio is professor of epidemiology at the University of Bordeaux.

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University of Bordeaux

  • A study was launched in the spring on the consequences of confinement and the Covid-19 epidemic on the mental health of students.

  • It will continue until spring 2021 but the first results show that the mental health indicators of students are degraded compared to non-students.

  • Living in times of great change and at an age when they need social connections, students are considered particularly vulnerable.

Christophe Tzourio, professor of epidemiology at the University of Bordeaux, coordinates the I.share study, which follows different aspects of student health over ten years.

At the same time, he collaborates for a year in the Confins study, which is interested in the specific effects of the Covid-19 epidemic on their mental health.

What is the object of this collaboration of I.

share to the Confins study, which is interested in the effects of the epidemic on the health of French people?

With this study, we want to know the psychological repercussions of the epidemic and the confinement on the mental health of students.

The infectious aspects, we know them and we control them more or less well, but on the other hand, what we have also learned from previous epidemics like SARS, is that they are accompanied by psychological consequences that can be formidable. .

There is the fear of the epidemic itself, which affects everyone, the apprehension of the economic consequences but also social isolation.

It was extreme during containment but it remains relevant because the distancing from social ties continues as the epidemic resumes.

We want to know what the consequences are on the mental health of students and compare them to a non-student audience.

How was this study carried out?

We started during the lockdown by recruiting on social networks some 2,000 students and 3,500 participants in total.

Non-students, if they are older than students, have comparable characteristics: for example, there is the same percentage of women and they share the same representations about the epidemic.

These are comparable groups and we see that the mental health indicators are more degraded among students.

The latter represent a fragile population at risk at the time of this epidemic and require special attention.

What are the key figures that you retain at this stage of the study?

With our classic scales, we observe that in terms of frequency, there are almost twice as many students as non-students, stressed, depressed, anxious, which is absolutely considerable.

And, if we use slightly more sophisticated models (called multivariates), students have a 50 to 70% increased risk of having high anxiety or depressive symptoms.

These are important figures which show that it is a fragile population.

And the disturbances continue today, everything is still chopped.

Why is the student public particularly fragile?

At the very beginning of the university career, it is a very important upheaval.

Students come out of an enveloping family environment and find themselves in a very different environment, with thousands of students.

Everything is new, and there is a positive there of course, but it creates multiple ruptures that are difficult to manage.

Studies are difficult and they quickly understand that their diplomas, if they are going to help them, will surely not be enough to find a job.

It is also a time when they can discover binge drinking and different drugs.

For the most part, this period is simply a stage, but others can switch to psychiatric pathologies.

Are we underestimating the malaise of this category of the population?

It is considered to be the best age in life, that the students are free and that they have no health problems.

The "knowledgeable" underestimate the tension they are experiencing and which was not the same 10 or 20 years ago.

Described as carefree and partying, most have taken the epidemic very seriously.

During confinement, some did not even take advantage of the authorized exit time and it was the friends who brought them shopping bags.

They hear the health messages but they are much more social beings who need (physically) to meet, to see each other.

There was a relaxation, certainly, but because they could not do otherwise.

How to support students in this context?

At the University of Bordeaux, we are very attentive and convinced that we must be more empathetic in our actions.

We are considering, for example, within the framework of the Covid unit, of which I am the referent, a sponsorship system.

Some experts say that the real epidemic will be an epidemic of mental illness, but it is out of date, less noticeable, and people are less vigilant about it.

In any case, the sooner we send messages and implement vigilance actions, the more easily we will pass this milestone.

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  • Covid 19

  • Society

  • epidemic

  • Psychology

  • Health

  • Student health