IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v19y2022i18p11330-d910618.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

College Students’ Reduced Cognitive Empathy and Increased Anxiety and Depression before and during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Author

Listed:
  • Janelle S. Peifer

    (Department of Psychology, University of Richmond, Richmond, VA 23173, USA)

  • Gita Taasoobshirazi

    (School of Data Science and Analytics, Kennesaw State University, Kennesaw, GA 30144, USA)

Abstract

This study explored college students’ individual mental health (i.e., anxious and depressive symptoms, intrapersonal identity, and ethnic identity), as well as interpersonal mental health, as assessed by their affective connection to and care for others (i.e., cognitive empathy), exploring the role of culture and identity during the twin COVID-19 and racial justice pandemics of 2020. Comparing a longitudinal cohort of 147 undergraduate students’ experiences prior to the pandemic (Spring 2019) and after the onset of the pandemic (Spring 2021), the study examines students’ mental health changes amidst the multi-layered challenges of this time. A repeated measures Multivariate Analysis of Variance (MANOVA) revealed heightened anxiety and depression scores from pre-pandemic to during the pandemic and a reduction in cognitive empathy as expressed through perspective taking and empathic concern. The study begins to examine the implications of these findings in the COVID-19 era with a focus on young adult mental health, higher education, empathy, and community-mindedness.

Suggested Citation

  • Janelle S. Peifer & Gita Taasoobshirazi, 2022. "College Students’ Reduced Cognitive Empathy and Increased Anxiety and Depression before and during the COVID-19 Pandemic," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(18), pages 1-7, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:18:p:11330-:d:910618
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/18/11330/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/18/11330/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Eisenberg Daniel & Golberstein Ezra & Hunt Justin B, 2009. "Mental Health and Academic Success in College," The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 9(1), pages 1-37, September.
    2. Yiqing Lv & Xiuqing Qiao & Jie Leng & Yuanhua Zheng & Qingke Guo, 2021. "Mindfulness Promotes Online Prosocial Behavior via Cognitive Empathy," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(13), pages 1-9, June.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Nadia Nandlall & Lisa D. Hawke & Em Hayes & Karleigh Darnay & Mardi Daley & Jacqueline Relihan & Joanna Henderson, 2022. "Learning Through a Pandemic: Youth Experiences With Remote Learning During the COVID-19 Pandemic," SAGE Open, , vol. 12(3), pages 21582440221, September.
    2. Sarah Baird & Jacobus de Hoop & Berk Özler, 2013. "Income Shocks and Adolescent Mental Health," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 48(2), pages 370-403.
    3. Joanne M. Williams & Jillian Bradfield & Andrew Gardiner & Patricia Pendry & Laura Wauthier, 2024. "Co-Producing Paws on Campus: A Psychoeducational Dog-Facilitated Programme for University Students Experiencing Mental Health Difficulties," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 21(8), pages 1-21, August.
    4. Ertan Yörük, Ceren & Yörük, Barış K., 2012. "The impact of drinking on psychological well-being: Evidence from minimum drinking age laws in the United States," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 75(10), pages 1844-1854.
    5. Megan E. Beerse & Theresa Van Lith & Gregg D. Stanwood, 2019. "Is There a Biofeedback Response to Art Therapy? A Technology-Assisted Approach for Reducing Anxiety and Stress in College Students," SAGE Open, , vol. 9(2), pages 21582440198, May.
    6. Arulsamy, Karen & Delaney, Liam, 2022. "The impact of automatic enrolment on the mental health gap in pension participation: Evidence from the UK," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 86(C).
    7. Miller, Rebecca & Blakeslee, Jennifer & Ison, Chanel, 2020. "Exploring college student identity among young people with foster care histories and mental health challenges," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 114(C).
    8. Mehic, Adrian & Olofsson, Charlotta, 2021. "Get Rich or Fail Your Exam Tryin': Gender, Socioeconomic Status and Spillover Effects of Blended Learning," Working Papers 2021:8, Lund University, Department of Economics, revised 16 Oct 2022.
    9. Anger, Silke & Christoph, Bernhard & Galkiewicz, Agata & Margaryan, Shushanik & Peter, Frauke & Sandner, Malte & Siedler, Thomas, 2024. "War, international spillovers, and adolescents: Evidence from Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 224(C), pages 181-193.
    10. Valerie Halstead & Jessica R Williams & Rosa Gonzalez‐Guarda, 2017. "Sexual violence in the college population: a systematic review of disclosure and campus resources and services," Journal of Clinical Nursing, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 26(15-16), pages 2137-2153, August.
    11. Konrad T. Lisnyj & David L. Pearl & Jennifer E. McWhirter & Andrew Papadopoulos, 2021. "Exploration of Factors Affecting Post-Secondary Students’ Stress and Academic Success: Application of the Socio-Ecological Model for Health Promotion," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(7), pages 1-21, April.
    12. Clotilde Mahé & Philipp Hessel, 2022. "School-age exposure to conditional cash transfers and adult mental health: Evidence from Mexico’s Progresa," Documentos de trabajo 20155, Escuela de Gobierno - Universidad de los Andes.
    13. Mushonga, Dawnsha R. & Henneberger, Angela K., 2024. "The Black-White paradox of mental health in college students," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 157(C).
    14. Mallory Avery & Jessica LaVoice, 2023. "The effect of “failed” community mental health centers on non‐white mortality," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 32(6), pages 1362-1393, June.
    15. Maria Kryza-Lacombe & Elise Tanzini & Sarah O’Neill, 2019. "Hedonic and Eudaimonic Motives: Associations with Academic Achievement and Negative Emotional States Among Urban College Students," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 20(5), pages 1323-1341, June.
    16. Wang, Yue & Ma, Yue, 2024. "The Impact of healthcare service program on the mental health of migrant children in eastern China: Evidence from a cluster-randomized controlled trial," 2024 Annual Meeting, July 28-30, New Orleans, LA 343823, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    17. Dong Yang & Usaporn Swekwi & Xiao Dai & Chia Ching Tu, 2022. "Potential Implications of Optimism and Mental Health for the Independent Learning of Chinese University Students," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(17), pages 1-12, August.
    18. Oreopoulos, Philip & Petronijevic, Uros & Logel, Christine & Beattie, Graham, 2020. "Improving non-academic student outcomes using online and text-message coaching," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 171(C), pages 342-360.
    19. Ezra Golberstein & Daniel Eisenberg & Marilyn F. Downs, 2016. "Spillover Effects in Health Service Use: Evidence From Mental Health Care Using First‐Year College Housing Assignments," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 25(1), pages 40-55, January.
    20. Collins, Matthew & Lundstedt, Jonas, 2024. "The effects of more informative grading on student outcomes," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 218(C), pages 514-549.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:18:p:11330-:d:910618. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.