*4.1. Anxiety and Depression across the Nine Countries*

Cross-national analyses allow for the obtained results to be analyzed from the global perspective. Previous cross-national research in European countries showed that a lower risk of depression is associated with socioeconomic factors [70]. In addition, a study using the Human Development Index (HDI) revealed that the highest depression prevalence was in medium HDI countries [20]. People in medium HDI countries might be subjected to more stressors compared to low HDI countries due to high expectations accompanied with high living costs and the cost of depression treatment [71]. However, in our research, all countries, except Ukraine and Colombia, are designated as very high HDI countries (HDI ≥ 0.800). Despite the above, large differences concerning depression in relation to the individual country were revealed. This suggests that other circumstances should be taken into account to explain the results of depression at a cross-national level. In certain cases, our results were in contrast to expectations, since e.g., Turkish students (very high HDI) exceeded all other students in the depression level, whereas Ukrainian students (high HDI) scored similarly to Czech students (very high HDI), thus presented the lowest level of depression in this study. Additionally, students from Czechia, which occupies 27th position in the HDI ranking, scored significantly lower in depression compared to students in Germany holding 6th position in this global ranking. Those inconsistent results may arise from the fact that the student population differs significantly from the general population. Moreover, the estimation of HDI change for 2020 globally shows an unprecedented shock to human development as all of HDI capabilities (long and healthy life, being knowledgeable, and having a decent standard of living) were severely affected indicating unparalleled acute decrease even compared to the post-2007 global financial crisis [72].

On the other hand, Turkish students, who reported the highest depressive symptoms among the nine countries, mostly live in eastern Turkey, where living standards are significantly lower compared to western Turkey [73]. The highest depression and anxiety levels in Turkey compared to the other nine countries may be explained by other significant factors. For example, in Turkey, the pandemic situation may affect student lifestyle by overlapping with other socioeconomic burdens, the current volatile economic situation [74], and high unemployment among young people, reaching 30% [75].

Nonetheless, when analyzing depression and anxiety levels in the nine countries from the global socioeconomic perspective, it appears that a country's financial situation and HDI may play a more prominent role in anxiety than depression. Students from Germany the country with the highest HDI and the highest possible score in Standard & Poor's Global Ratings [76]—presented a minimal anxiety level, which notably, was the lowest among the nine countries. Among other predictors and associated variables, this may also be due to a more stable economy at the national level. Financial security may play a more significant role in decreasing anxiety than depression among students, as the German example shows.
