Georgia College psychology students study impact of Covid-19 on college students

Georgia College Psychology students have been studying the impact Covid-19 has had on college students.

MILLEDGEVILLE, Georgia (41NBC/WMGT) — Georgia College Psychology students have been studying the impact Covid-19 has had on college students.

The students surveyed 154 students and found loneliness increased during the pandemic.

Emma Kraby is one of five students involved in the research. She says they were specifically looking at what life was like for students during quarantine.

“We didn’t ask students specifically why they were feeling lonely or why their mental health might have been suffering,” she said. “I know based on my experience and the experience of my peers, a lot of it was being in quarantine, being away from your friends that you were used to seeing every day in school.”

The survey was given to mostly female students. All of the data collected is from the fall semester of 2020 to the fall semester of 2021.

“We found a strong negative correlation between the two, such that as loneliness increased mental health decreased,” Kraby said.

Maryelle Michael is also a senior at Georgia College who helped with the research. She says they found people began exercising more during the pandemic.

“As time went on, those mental health aspects did lower a little bit and exercise did go up,” Michael said. “Which is what we wanted to see, and it’s great to see that people are adapting and people are getting back to how they were.”

The students also found introverts suffered more mentally than extroverts.

Tsu-Ming Chiang, a psychology professor at the college, says the students were surprised by the results.

She asays there’s still more research to be done.

“What are the impacts? And what are the solutions moving forward? That will help educate community members,” she said. “And what are some of the best practices that you can use?”