*Article* **A Comparison of Depression and Anxiety among University Students in Nine Countries during the COVID-19 Pandemic**

**Dominika Ochnik 1,\*, Aleksandra M. Rogowska 2, Cezary Ku´snierz 3, Monika Jakubiak 4, Astrid Schütz 5, Marco J. Held 5, Ana Arzenšek 6, Joy Benatov 7, Rony Berger 8,9, Elena V. Korchagina 10, Iuliia Pavlova 11, Ivana Blažková 12, Zde ˇnka Koneˇcná 13, Imran Aslan 14, Orhan Çınar 15,16, Yonni Angel Cuero-Acosta <sup>17</sup> and Magdalena Wierzbik-Stro ´nska <sup>1</sup>**

	- <sup>4</sup> Faculty of Economics, Maria Curie-Sklodowska University in Lublin, 20-031 Lublin, Poland; monika.jakubiak@poczta.umcs.lublin.pl
	- <sup>5</sup> Department of Psychology, University of Bamberg, 96047 Bamberg, Germany; astrid.schuetz@uni-bamberg.de (A.S.); marco.held@uni-bamberg.de (M.J.H.)
	- <sup>6</sup> Faculty of Management, University of Primorska, 6101 Koper, Slovenia; ana.arzensek@fm-kp.si
	- <sup>7</sup> Department of Special Education, University of Haifa, Haifa 3498838, Israel; jbentov2@gmail.com
	- <sup>8</sup> The Center for Compassionate Mindful Education, Tel Aviv 69106, Israel; bergerrony@gmail.com
	- <sup>9</sup> Bob Shapell School of Social Work, Tel-Aviv University, Tel Aviv 69978, Israel
	- <sup>10</sup> Institute of Industrial Management, Economics and Trade, Peter the Great St. Petersburg Polytechnic University, 195251 St. Petersburg, Russia; elena.korchagina@mail.ru
	- <sup>11</sup> Department of Theory and Methods of Physical Culture, Lviv State University of Physical Culture, 79007 Lviv, Ukraine; pavlova.j.o@gmail.com
	- <sup>12</sup> Department of Regional and Business Economics, Mendel University in Brno,
	- 613 00 Brno, Czech Republic; blazkova@mendelu.cz <sup>13</sup> Faculty of Business and Management, Brno University of Technology, 612 00 Brno, Czech Republic;
	- konecna@fbm.vutbr.cz <sup>14</sup> Health Management Department, Bingöl University, Bingöl 12000, Turkey; imranaslan@gmail.com
	- <sup>15</sup> Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences, Ataturk University, Erzurum 25240, Turkey; orhanar@gmail.com
	- <sup>16</sup> Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences, A ˘grı ˙ Ibrahim Çeçen University, A ˘grı 04000, Turkey
	- <sup>17</sup> School of Management, Universidad del Rosario, Bogotá 111711, Colombia; yonnia.cuero@urosario.edu.co
	- **\*** Correspondence: dominika.ochnik@wst.pl

**Abstract:** The mental health of young adults, particularly students, is at high risk during the COVID-19 pandemic. The purpose of this study was to examine differences in mental health between university students in nine countries during the pandemic. The study encompassed 2349 university students (69% female) from Colombia, the Czech Republic (Czechia), Germany, Israel, Poland, Russia, Slovenia, Turkey, and Ukraine. Participants underwent the following tests: Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-8), Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD-7), Exposure to COVID-19 (EC-19), Perceived Impact of Coronavirus (PIC) on students' well-being, Physical Activity (PA), and General Self-Reported Health (GSRH). The one-way ANOVA showed significant differences between countries. The highest depression and anxiety risk occurred in Turkey, the lowest depression in the Czech Republic and the lowest anxiety in Germany. The χ<sup>2</sup> independence test showed that EC-19, PIC, and GSRH were associated with anxiety and depression in most of the countries, whereas PA was associated in less than half of the countries. Logistic regression showed distinct risk factors for each country. Gender and EC-19 were the most frequent predictors of depression and anxiety across the countries. The role of gender and PA for depression and anxiety is not universal and depends on cross-cultural differences. Students' mental health should be addressed from a cross-cultural perspective.

**Keywords:** mental health; anxiety; depression; students; COVID-19; general self-reported health; physical activity; gender; cross-national study

**Citation:** Ochnik, D.; Rogowska, A.M.; Ku´snierz, C.; Jakubiak, M.; Schütz, A.; Held, M.J.; Arzenšek, A.; Benatov, J.; Berger, R.; Korchagina, E.V.; et al. A Comparison of Depression and Anxiety among University Students in Nine Countries during the COVID-19 Pandemic. *J. Clin. Med.* **2021**, *10*, 2882. https://doi.org/10.3390/

Academic Editor: Michele Roccella

Received: 20 April 2021 Accepted: 27 June 2021 Published: 29 June 2021

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