Background: Anxiety and depression are more common among university students than in the general popula‑tion. It is reported internationally that the COVID‑19 pandemic increased the prevalence of anxiety and depressionamong students. This study aimed to measure the prevalence of anxiety and depression among university students inPalestine and to explore the association between anxiety and depression during the COVID‑19 pandemic. A cross‑sectional questionnaire‑based descriptive study was carried out on university students. The Generalized Anxiety Disor‑der Scale (GAD‑7) and the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression (CES‑D) scale were used to evaluate anxietyand depression, respectively. Chi‑square was used to evaluate the risk factors associated with the levels of anxiety anddepression. The association between anxiety and depression was evaluated using Pearson correlation.Results: A total of 1049 students were enrolled in the study. The prevalence of depression among them was 55.8%,26.4%, and 9.8% for severe, moderate, and mild depression, respectively. Depression symptoms were significantly vari‑able based on students’ field and year of study, sleeping period, smoking, and food source. The prevalence of anxietywas 16.1%, 30.7%, and 36.1% for severe, moderate, and mild anxiety, respectively. Anxiety symptoms were significantlyvariable based on students’ gender, year of study, sleeping period, smoking, and place of residence. A strong positivecorrelation was observed between the CES‑D and GAD‑7 scores (R = 0.707).Conclusion: Palestinian university students suffer from elevated levels of anxiety and depression during theCOVID‑19 pandemic. This necessitates the need for strategies by stakeholders to take immediate and appropriateinterventions.

Title

Middle East Current Psychiatry

Publisher

Springer Nature

Publisher Country

Germany

Indexing

Scopus

Impact Factor

0.3

Publication Type

Both (Printed and Online)

Volume

71

Year

2022

Pages

71-78