Verification of the thesis on the increase in depressive and alarming trends in the 2010-2020s (using the example of a cohort and longitudinal study)

Context and relevance. A comparative analysis of the severity of anxiety, distress and depression in four cohort groups of students in 2013, 2018, 2020 and 2022 is aimed at empirically verifying the thesis of a steady increase in these adverse conditions in the population. Methods and materials. The total sample size was 557 students of humanitarian and technical specialties. The sample was formed taking into account the possibility of influencing the results of events that occurred in 2020 and 2022 in order to exclude the influence of objectively stressogenic factors on the study results. The study was conducted using the DASS — 21 psychodiagnostic technique, which allows comparisons with other countries. Results. Together with the cohort study, a longitudinal study was conducted, as a result of which the initial conclusions were verified that there was insufficient empirical evidence of a sharp increase in unfavorable emotional states among students during the period of self-isolation and during the rapid transition to distance learning. The most clearly unfavorable emotional states were expressed in students in 2018, that is, in a period not marked by extraordinary events that violate the usual way of social functioning. A longitudinal study found that in 2020, during the period of restrictive measures in connection with the prevention of the spread of coronavirus infection, the number of students with clinically significant manifestations of depression and anxiety was lower than in 2018. Conclusions. As a result of the study, initial conclusions regarding the lack of empirical support for a significant increase in adverse emotional states among students during self-isolation and the rapid transition to distance learning have been confirmed. However, no continuous increase in adverse emotional states related to extraordinary events occurring in 2020-2022 has been identified.

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