Background The COVID-19 pandemic has brought into focus the mental health of the student population. The study aimed to analyze the psychological response to the COVID-19 outbreak in terms of perceived stress and its related factors among university students in south-east Serbia. The study was conducted during the increased incidence of COVID-19 in Serbia. Method A total of 434 students from the public university in south-east Serbia enrolled in the study and completed the measures of socio-demographic data, the perceived stress scale (PSS-10), the Coping Strategy Indicator (CSI) and the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-28). The data were analyzed through quantitative and qualitative methods. Results Study findings suggest that the mean perceived stress score was placed to 20.43 (± 7.67). Our model showed that female gender, higher scores on anxiety/insomnia and depression subscale as well as the coping strategy avoidance predicted higher perceived stress, while higher scores on social dysfunction were related to the reduced perceived stress scores. Conclusion Notwithstanding the study limitation, findings provided authentic data of stress reactions of the students in south-east Serbia during the COVID-19 outbreak. The findings confirm the need to examine students’ experiences in emergencies and crises, as well as to make a plan for online stress management programs that would help alleviate stress during a global pandemic.
【저자키워드】 COVID-19, Perceived stress, students, 【초록키워드】 Depression, Stress, mental health, coping, COVID-19 pandemic, Strategy, global pandemic, COVID-19 outbreak, management, CSI, Psychological, Quantitative, dysfunction, Indicator, Factor, reaction, avoidance, female gender, help, measure, PSS-10, socio-demographic, perceived stress score, Result, enrolled, predicted, analyzed, conducted, provided, reduced, the mean, alleviate, incidence of COVID-19, 【제목키워드】 COVID-19 outbreak, Perceived,