Reduced social interaction does not have an effect on students’ anxiety and depression levels.

The Covid-19 pandemic has caused a significant reduction in social interaction for many individuals, but especially college students. Social interaction acts as an outlet for many students, helping to reduce stress, anxiety, depression and more. We aim to examine a connection between living environment, amount of social interaction and their impacts on anxiety and depression. It was hypothesized that if a college student is placed in a living environment that restricts social support, they will have higher levels of anxiety and depression. Data were collected virtually from students in different living conditions and varied social interaction, by use of questionnaires, including the Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale (HAM-A) and the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI). Then it was analyzed using two one-way ANOVAs that compared the scores from the HAM-A and BDI to living environment and employment status. This is important to study because the conditions of the pandemic and their effects have yet to be fully understood. There seems to be challenges beyond adapting to learning online or in compromised classroom settings that may affect their education. Exploring these challenges may help mitigate possible negative effects of college student’s education. Future research could analyze students’ coping mechanisms in the time of a pandemic.