Mental health and personality implications among medical students during the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic

Few studies have explored the correlations between personality traits and mental health during the outbreak period of the COVID-19 pandemic. Thus, we conducted a cross-sectional survey to assess the personality traits and mental health of 142 students at Wenzhou Medical University, using the Generalized Anxiety Disorder 7-Item Scale, the Patient Health Questionnaire-9, the Sleep Status Self-Rating Scale, and the NEO Five-Factor Inventory. The results indicate that 30.28% of the sample had symptoms of anxiety, 40.85% had symptoms of depression, and 13.38% had disordered sleep. Neuroticism was positively correlated with anxiety, depression, and disordered sleep; extraversion was negatively correlated with anxiety, depression, and disordered sleep; openness was negatively correlated with disordered sleep; and conscientiousness was negatively correlated with both depression and disordered sleep. The results demonstrate that personality traits were risk factors for psychological disorders among students during the COVID-19 outbreak. Our findings may help provide a guide for screening for those susceptible to psychological disorders.