The student population has been highly vulnerable to the risk of mental health deterioration during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic. This study aimed to reveal the prevalence and predictors of mental health among students in Poland, Slovenia, Czechia, Ukraine, Russia, Germany, Turkey, Israel, and Colombia in a socioeconomic context during the COVID-19 pandemic. The study was conducted among 2349 students (69% women) from May-July 2020. Data were collected by means of the Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD-7), Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-8), Perceived Stress Scale (PSS-10), Gender Inequality Index (GII), Standard & Poor's Global Ratings, the Oxford COVID-19 Government Response Tracker (OxCGRT), and a sociodemographic survey. Descriptive statistics and Bayesian multilevel skew-normal regression analyses were conducted. The prevalence of high stress, depression, and generalized anxiety symptoms in the total sample was 61.30%, 40.3%, and 30%, respectively. The multilevel Bayesian model showed that female sex was a credible predictor of PSS-10, GAD-7, and PHQ-8 scores. In addition, place of residence (town) and educational level (first-cycle studies) were risk factors for the PHQ-8. This study showed that mental health issues are alarming in the student population. Regular psychological support should be provided to students by universities.

Bob Shapell School of Social Work Tel Aviv University 69978 Tel Aviv Israel

Department of Psychology University of Bamberg 96047 Bamberg Germany

Department of Regional and Business Economics Mendel University in Brno Brno 613 00 Czech Republic

Department of Special Education University of Haifa 3498838 Haifa Israel

Department of Theory and Methods of Physical Culture Lviv State University of Physical Culture Lviv 79007 Ukraine

Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences Ağrı İbrahim Çeçen University Ağrı 04000 Turkey

Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences Ataturk University Erzurum 25240 Turkey

Faculty of Economics Maria Curie Sklodowska University in Lublin 20 031 Lublin Poland

Faculty of Management University of Primorska 6101 Koper Slovenia

Faculty of Medicine University of Technology 40 555 Katowice Poland

Faculty of Physical Education and Physiotherapy Opole University of Technology 45 758 Opole Poland

Health Management Department Bingöl University Bingöl 12000 Turkey

Institute of Industrial Management Economics and Trade Peter the Great St Petersburg Polytechnic University St Petersburg 195251 Russia

Institute of Psychology University of Opole 45 052 Opole Poland

School of Management Universidad del Rosario 111711 Bogotá PC Colombia

The Center for Compassionate Mindful Education 69106 Tel Aviv Israel

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