Table 4.
Association of depression, anxiety, and stress levels and various attitudes and behaviors in the study
| Attitude and behavior toward the COVID-19 pandemic | Type of response | Number of students | Depression | Anxiety | Stress | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Median (IQR) | P | Median (IQR) | P | Median (IQR) | P | |||
| I feel safe at home | Yes | 512 | 4 (0-10) | 0.001** | 2 (0-6) | 0.002* | 4 (0-10) | 0.001** |
| No | 18 | 18 (5.5-22.5) | 6 (2-14) | 14 (7.5-22.5) | ||||
| I am thoroughly enjoying being at home with my family, pets, and/or utilizing the time in hobbies, interests, and/or adapting few healthy lifestyle changes | Yes | 407 | 2 (0-8) | 0.001** | 2 (0-4) | 0.001** | 4 (0-8) | 0.001** |
| No | 123 | 8 (2-18) | 4 (0-10) | 10 (4-16) | ||||
| I have been following the WHO/national/state set safety guidelines thoroughly | Yes | 528 | 4 (0-10) | 0.42 | 2 (0-6) | 0.94 | 4 (0-10) | 0.66 |
| No | 2 | 2 | 3 | 4 | ||||
| As the priority at present is to curb the infection, the inconvenience caused by contingency measures are totally justifiable | Yes | 515 | 4 (0-10) | 0.80 | 2 (0-6) | 0.95 | 4 (0-10) | 0.79 |
| No | 15 | 2 (2-8) | 2 (0-4) | 4 (2-10) | ||||
| I have remained confined to home with the sense of social responsibility | Yes | 380 | 4 (0-10) | 0.09 | 2 (0-4) | 0.005* | 4 (0-10) | 0.15 |
| No | 150 | 4 (0-16) | 2 (0-8) | 4 (0-12) | ||||
| I feel that the COVID-19 pandemic is hyped up and lockdown is unnecessary | Yes | 33 | 2 (0-7) | 0.18 | 2 (0-4) | 0.26 | 2 (0-6) | 0.03* |
| No | 497 | 4 (0-10) | 2 (0-4) | 2 (0-6) | ||||
| I feel stuck at home | Yes | 196 | 6 (2-16) | 0.001** | 2 (0-8) | 0.001** | 6 (2-14) | 0.001** |
| No | 334 | 2 (0-8) | 2 (0-4) | 4 (0-8) | ||||
| I have remained confined to home only because of legal obligations | Yes | 150 | 4 (0-16) | 0.09 | 2 (0-8) | 0.005* | 4 (0-12) | 0.15 |
| No | 380 | 4 (0-10) | 2 (0-6) | 4 (0-10) | ||||
| I have no fear of contracting the illness at all | Yes | 119 | 4 (0-14) | 0.36 | 2 (0-6) | 0.28 | 4 (0-10) | 0.55 |
| No | 411 | 4 (0-10) | 2 (0-6) | 4 (0-10) | ||||
| I have often gone out of home unnecessarily during the lockdown as I felt overwhelmed being “homebound” | Yes | 22 | 2 (0-2.5) | 0.04* | 0 (0-4) | 0.07 | 2 (0-10) | 0.34 |
| No | 508 | 4 (0-10) | 2 (0-6) | 4 (0-10) | ||||
| I have been paying undue attention to the information regarding the COVID-19 pandemic on media to the extent that it is affecting me | Yes | 134 | 4 (0-12.5) | 0.09 | 2 (0-8.5) | 0.02* | 4 (0-12) | 0.15 |
| No | 396 | 4 (0-10) | 2 (0-6) | 4 (0-10) | ||||
| I have been hoarding a lot of essentials items such as groceries, personal care items, and/or personal protective equipment | Yes | 134 | 3 (0-10) | 0.30 | 2 (0-6.5) | 0.50 | 4 (0-10) | 0.14 |
| No | 396 | 4 (0-10) | 2 (0-6) | 4 (0-10) | ||||
| I seek and believe information through social media such as WhatsApp forwards and Facebook/Twitter posts as they are authentic and the information is substantiated | Yes | 44 | 2 (0-11.5) | 0.31 | 2 (0-6) | 0.91 | 2 (0-8) | 0.16 |
| No | 486 | 4 (0-10) | 2 (0-6) | 4 (0-10) | ||||
| I feel troubled as my usual destressing “vent-outs” such as social gatherings, shopping, eat-outs, movies, and pubbing are prohibited in the lockdown | Yes | 179 | 8 (2-16) | 0.001** | 4 (0-8) | 0.001** | 8 (2-14) | 0.001** |
| No | 351 | 2 (0-6) | 2 (0-4) | 4 (0-8) | ||||
| I am facing problems as there is very limited/no access to cigarettes/alcohol/other substances | Yes | 21 | 4 (0-16) | 0.83 | 4 (0-6) | 0.29 | 6 (1-15) | 0.26 |
| No | 509 | 4 (0-10) | 2 (0-6) | 4 (0-10) | ||||
| I am spending a significant amount of time over watching TV/Netflix/Amazon Prime/YouTube/WhatsApp/Facebook/Twitter/Instagram/TikTok/Gaming/Pornography/Others to the extent that it is hindering my studies | Yes | 300 | 6 (2-14) | 0.001** | 2 (0-8) | 0.001** | 6 (0-12) | 0.001** |
| No | 230 | 2 (0-6) | 0 (0-4) | 4 (0-8) | ||||
| I am extremely afraid that I may contract the infection and pass it on to the loved ones | Yes | 210 | 4 (0-14) | 0.003* | 4 (0-8) | 0.001** | 6 (1.5-12) | 0.001** |
| No | 320 | 4 (0-8) | 0 (0-4) | 4 (0-8) | ||||
| I have visited/called the family physician more than two times in the last month as I felt panicky on having mild-to-moderate symptoms of upper respiratory infection | Yes | 17 | 4 (2-10) | 0.91 | 4 (2-12) | 0.01* | 4 (1-10) | 0.82 |
| No | 513 | 4 (0-10) | 2 (0-6) | 4 (0-10) | ||||
IQR - Interquartile range; *Significant (p ≤ 0.05); **Highly significant (p ≤ 0.001)