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ORIGINAL RESEARCH ARTICLE

Emotional and physiological impact of COVID-19 stressors on university students: Exploring arousal, anxiety, and gender differences

Krisztian Kasos1* ,  Catriona O’Halloran1 ,  Emma Swift1 ,  Thebe Van Rensbergen1 ,  Fanni Vikor3 ,  Prakashini Banka-Cullen2
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1 Department of Affective Psychology, ELTE Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest, Hungary
2 School of Nursing & Midwifery, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland
3 Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Granada, Spain
JCBP, 4825 https://doi.org/10.36922/jcbp.4825
Submitted: 12 September 2024 | Revised: 15 November 2024 | Accepted: 3 January 2025 | Published: 18 March 2025
© 2025 by the Author(s). This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License ( https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ )
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Abstract

COVID-19 and related events, such as lockdowns, had measurable adverse mental health effects on the population. The present study explores the impact of COVID-19 on young adults’ mental health, specifically examining university students’ emotional and physiological responses to pandemic-related stress. University students (n = 45) from various disciplines participated in a within-subject design experiment, during which their electrodermal activity (EDA) was measured while they recalled COVID-19 experiences. Significant variances in EDA were observed, with disruptions of daily routine and panic buying inducing the highest responses. A correlation between anxiety levels and EDA suggests that those with higher anxiety experience stronger physiological reactions. Gender-specific differences in EDA were also detected, highlighting the need for tailored mental health interventions. This research underscores the importance of addressing individual and gender-based responses to pandemic stress.

Keywords
Anxiety
COVID-19
Electrodermal
Memories
Pandemic
Funding
This work was accomplished with support of the National Development and Innovation Office through OTKA- PD 143491 research grant.
Conflict of interest
The authors declare that they have no competing interests.
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Journal of Clinical and Basic Psychosomatics, Electronic ISSN: 2972-4414 Print ISSN: 3060-8562, Published by AccScience Publishing
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