4th year AuD student The University of Texas at Austin Sugar Land, Texas, United States
Abstract: Researchers assessing the mental well-being of university students during the COVID-19 pandemic have used screening tools to measure self-reports of anxiety and depression. The aim of the current study is to assess self-reports of anxiety and depression of audiology graduate students across the nation.
Description: The COVID-19 pandemic has affected the daily lives of university students due to the transition of in-person classes to virtual education. Researchers assessing mental well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic have used screening tools to measure anxiety and depression among university students. The aim of standardized and published screening tools is to limit participant fatigue while obtaining brief and accurate measurements. Specifically, the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ) screening tool and the Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) screening tool have been used in published studies to examine the psychological effects of COVID-19 on university students. The PHQ and GAD screening tools have shown that self-report measures of anxiety and depression exist among university students during the COVID-19 pandemic. The aim of the current study was to assess the self-reported anxiety and depression scores of audiology graduate students enrolled in accredited audiology programs in the nation and to evaluate if certain student factors contribute to higher self-reports of anxiety and depression.
Presentation Format & Methods: Poster Session
Supporting Research: Reference 1: Chirikov, I., Soria, K. M, Horgos, B., & Jones-White, D. (2020). Undergraduate and Graduate Students’ Mental Health During the COVID-19 Pandemic. UC Berkeley: Center for Studies in Higher Education. Retrieved from https://escholarship.org/uc/item/80k5d5hw.
Supporting Research: Reference 2: Wang, X., Hegde, S., Son, C., Keller, B., Smith, A., & Sasangohar, F. (2020). Investigating mental health of US college students during the COVID-19 pandemic: Cross-sectional survey study. Journal of medical Internet research, 22(9), e22817. doi:10.2196/22817.
Supporting Research: Reference 3: Fruehwirth, J. C., Biswas, S., & Perreira, K. M. (2021). The Covid-19 pandemic and mental health of first-year college students: Examining the effect of Covid-19 stressors using longitudinal data. PloS one, 16(3). https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0247999.
Supporting Research: Reference 4: Kecojevic, A., Basch, C. H., Sullivan, M., & Davi, N. K. (2020). The impact of the COVID-19 epidemic on mental health of undergraduate students in New Jersey, cross-sectional study. PloS one, 15(9).
Supporting Research: Reference 5: Lee, J., Jeong, H. J., & Kim, S. (2021). Stress, anxiety, and depression among undergraduate students during the COVID-19 pandemic and their use of mental health services. Innovative higher education, 46(5), 519-538. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10755-021-09552-y.
Learning Objectives:
summarize if certain AuD student factors contribute to higher self-reports of anxiety and depression
describe the amount of AuD students that have self-reports of anxiety and depression
identify how COVID-19 impacted the graduate school education of AuD students