Dynamics of university students’ experiences with COVID-19 in the first year of pandemic in Russia: dataset

Frontiers in Psychology. 2023. Vol. 14. Article 1286036.

Natalia Antonova, Ksenia Eritsyan, Usacheva N., Larisa Tsvetkova

The present dataset offers secondary analytic opportunities to explore changes in the rates of the COVID-19 recommended protective behavior. COVID-19 related beliefs and mental health symptoms as well as range of COVID-related personal experiences from the beginning of the first wave to the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. 
Data was collected during two waves of the cross-sectional survey study (May-June 2020 and September-November 2020) among students at one of the largest universities in Saint-Petersburg, Russia. The first round of data collection occurred at the peak of the first wave of COVID-19 pandemic in Russia, the second - at the beginning of the second wave of COVID-19. The construction of all variables was in line with the tools recommended by the WHO for COVID-19 behavioral studies.  The dataset combined from the both waves consists of 1,790 observations of 76 variables.
The present dataset could be useful for analysis of the different behavioral, cognitive, and mental health variables across those two data points. It could also be merged with other time-sampled or geographic data.
Based on a sample of Russian students it provides an opportunity to test analytical hypotheses on a non-WEIRD sample, which is important for a nuanced understanding on the level of generalizability of research findings.

Keywords: Russia, university students, perceived threat, mental health, preventive behavior, Dataset, COVID-19

Publication based on the results of: Impact of Crises and Reforms on People's Attitudes and Behavior (2023)