Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on mental-health and academic performance in Canadian university students

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused disruptions to the educational system since its onset in March 2020, leading to school closures and shifts to remote learning, inconsistent access to educational resources, as well as increased stress and mental health problems for both students and educators alike. These challenges have contributed to learning losses and declines in academic performance at the secondary school level. Data on the pandemic's impact on post-secondary learning outcomes is less consistent, with some studies reporting increases in academic performance, while others report declines. Thus, the purpose of this study is to investigate the pandemic's impact on university students’ academic, mental and psychosocial functioning. Utilizing longitudinal data collected prior to the pandemic (from March 2019 to March 2020), and one year into the pandemic (March 2021-April 2021), we analyze changes in GPA, mental well-being, substance use, social networks, and subjective socioeconomic status. Additionally, we examined the predictors of educational attainment and substance use during the pandemic. Results show that while student’s GPA increased during the pandemic, social networks, and reported well-being decreased, while substance use increased. Substance use turned out to be the only significant predictor of academic performance during the pandemic, while all other indices of mental health- including general anxiety and depressive symptoms as well as stressors unique to the pandemic- were not significantly related to academic outcomes. Notably, changes in substance use from before and after the pandemic’s onset were significantly predicted by pre-existing mental health conditions suggesting that individuals with mental health challenges were more vulnerable to increased substance use and maladaptive coping during this period. Overall, these findings highlight the need for increased resources to support students' mental health and coping skills during crises, particularly for those with existing mental health vulnerabilities, which in turn can foster academic success and mitigate disruptions to their educational progress.