The Association Between Social Support, COVID-19 Exposure, and Medical Students' Mental Health

The coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has halted in-person medical education worldwide. Limited studies have reported on the mental health status of medical students during this public health emergency. This study aimed to explore the association of personal virus exposure, regional epidemic condition, and social support with medical students' depressive and anxiety symptoms during the COVID-19 outbreak in China. In February 2020, 5,982 medical students (60.0% females, Mean = 21.7 years, Median = 22 years) completed an online survey consisting of demographics, personal virus exposure, the Patient Health Questionnaire, the Generalized Anxiety Disorder Scale, and the Social Support Rating Scale. The prevalence rates of mild to severe depressive symptoms and anxiety symptoms were 35.2 and 22.8%, respectively. Multivariate linear regression showed that students with low- or medium-level social support had a higher risk of experiencing depressive or anxiety symptoms than those with high-level social support. COVID-19 exposure was positively associated with mild to severe depressive or anxiety symptoms. Respondents living in provinces with 500-1,000 confirmed COVID-19 cases had an increased risk of experiencing mild to severe depressive symptoms compared with those living in provinces with