The Impact of COVID-19-Related Transitions on Student Well-being

Abstract

Objective. To characterize the impact of COVID-19 transitions on first professional year (P1) students’ domain-specific and overall well-being.

Methods. All P1 students (N=74) enrolled at one college of pharmacy self-reported their career, community, financial, physical, social, and overall well-being on a weekly basis from January 6, 2020 through April 27, 2020. Parametric statistical tests and effect sizes were used to compare well-being scores pre-COVID-19 and post-COVID-19 and to compare well-being scores to a previous cohort of P1 students.

Results. Mean well-being scores decreased when comparing pre-COVID-19 vs post-COVID-19 scores with effect sizes ranging from d_av=.16 for financial well-being to d_av=.84 for social well-being. The average percent of students reporting struggling increased by 86.1% (16.8% vs. 31.2%) post-COVID-19, and the average percent of students who reported suffering post-COVID-19 was 351% higher (1.3% vs. 6%) than pre-COVID-19.

Conclusion. Pharmacy students' domain specific and overall well-being significantly decreased with COVID-19-related transitions. The percentage of students reporting struggling or suffering significantly increased post-COVID-19.