Conhecimento, atitudes e práticas frente a Covid-19 e sua associação com sintomas de depressão, ansiedade e estresse em estudantes universitários

Abstract

Objectives: to assess undergraduate and graduate university students' knowledge, attitudes, and practices about COVID-19 and their association with the prevalence of changes in mental health (depression, anxiety, and stress). Methods: From April to June 2020, 320 Brazilian university students with undergraduate or graduate institutional affiliations participated in a primary, cross-sectional, and prospective study. Participants completed an online instrument with structured questions divided into three sections: 1) Study population characterization; 2) Mental health assessment (DAAS-21); 3) COVID-19 knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP). Results: 61% of the students reported symptoms of depression, 60% of anxiety, and 64% stress. Overall, students had good knowledge, attitudes, and practices regarding COVID-19. Depression exhibited a moderate positive link with anxiety and stress, but anxiety and stress had a significant positive correlation with each other. The link between knowledge and COVID-19 practices was extremely poor. We observed that knowledge had a very weak negative association with anxiety, the same as attitudes with depression, and anxiety and stress with each other when we assessed the KAP and DASS-21 data. Conclusion: University students are highly likely to experience changes in their mental health, and their psychiatric symptoms are inversely related to knowledge, attitudes, and practices in the face of COVID-19.