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<p>This study investigates how the first COVID-19 lockdown in March 2020 affected German university students’ mental health, drawing on the Job Demands-Resources Model. We aimed to identify changes in mental health outcomes, workload, and personal resources, as well as their interrelations during this early pandemic phase. A longitudinal survey was conducted with 282 German students, capturing data immediately before and four weeks after the first lockdown. We compared mental health scores, demands, resources and use of pharmacological neuroenhancement (PNE) before and after lockdown and tested their associations via structural equation models (SEMs). Four weeks after the first COVID-19 lockdown in Germany, students reported lower workloads, lower levels of symptoms of depression and anxiety and lower use of PNE. SEMs revealed that the change in demands led to a change in mental health (β = 0.387, <i>p</i> = .02) and that higher resources at t1 predicted better mental health at t2 (β = 0.407, <i>p</i> &lt; .01). These findings offer novel insights into the underexplored period of early post-lockdown dynamics, informing more responsive mental health strategies in academic settings: The improvement in mental health due to the reduction in demands and the protective impact of personal resources show that universities should focus on both structural and behavioral prevention interventions to ensure that students have a manageable workload, to adapt to challenging working conditions, especially in the aftermath of large-scale disruptions.</p>

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From lockdown to letdown? German students mental health directly before and four weeks after the first lockdown in the lights of the job demands-resources model: learnings for post-pandemic student life

  • 期刊论文

  • 出版模式：

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  • 发表日期：

    2026年4月9日

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  • Nico Darwig,
  • Roman Pauli,
  • Jessica Lang

摘要

This study investigates how the first COVID-19 lockdown in March 2020 affected German university students’ mental health, drawing on the Job Demands-Resources Model. We aimed to identify changes in mental health outcomes, workload, and personal resources, as well as their interrelations during this early pandemic phase. A longitudinal survey was conducted with 282 German students, capturing data immediately before and four weeks after the first lockdown. We compared mental health scores, demands, resources and use of pharmacological neuroenhancement (PNE) before and after lockdown and tested their associations via structural equation models (SEMs). Four weeks after the first COVID-19 lockdown in Germany, students reported lower workloads, lower levels of symptoms of depression and anxiety and lower use of PNE. SEMs revealed that the change in demands led to a change in mental health (β = 0.387, p = .02) and that higher resources at t1 predicted better mental health at t2 (β = 0.407, p < .01). These findings offer novel insights into the underexplored period of early post-lockdown dynamics, informing more responsive mental health strategies in academic settings: The improvement in mental health due to the reduction in demands and the protective impact of personal resources show that universities should focus on both structural and behavioral prevention interventions to ensure that students have a manageable workload, to adapt to challenging working conditions, especially in the aftermath of large-scale disruptions.