Coping with Symptoms of Mental Health Disorders among University Students during the COVID-19 Pandemic in Relation to Their Lifestyle Habits

Background and Objectives: The time of the pandemic brought great difficulties, both in state and interstate systems, industry, trade, and with individuals themselves. In addition, numerous studies have shown a drastic increase in mental disorders in people around the world. Therefore, the basic idea of our study was to investigate these disorders in university students in relation to their different lifestyles. Materials and Methods: The cross-sectional study was carried out at the University of Nis (Serbia) from December 2021 to February 2022. All of the participants were assessed by using appropriate questionnaires. The study included 1400 randomly selected students (692 females and 708 males). The statistical analysis of the data included the application of multiple regression analyses and correlation tests. Results: Statistical analysis indicates that extremely severe levels of depression symptoms were reported by 232 students (16.6%). Severe and extremely severe anxiety symptoms were reported by 480 students (34.3%). Multiple linear regression analysis found that for the increased depressive symptoms, the "most deserving" parameters were related to the consumption of alcoholic beverages and psychoactive substances (beta = 0.10, and 0.11, respectively), compared to the period before the COVID-19 pandemic. For anxiety symptoms, the main role was played by alcohol consumption (beta = 0.11) but also by the use of social networks as an adequate substitute for deprived content during the pandemic (beta = 0.13). Alcohol consumption was the most "responsible" for elevated stress levels compared to the period before the pandemic (beta = 0.19). Conclusions: Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, symptoms of depression, anxiety, and stress were drastically increased in the university students. There was significantly more frequent consumption of alcoholic beverages and psychoactive substances among them. That is why social support from a close environment is the most important strategy in coping with mental health issues during emergency situations.