Abstract: Objective To assess the mental health and coping style of college students for psychological intervention during the prevention and control of COVID-19 epidemic. Methods A questionnaire survey was used. A convenient sample was recruited from March to April 2020. We conducted an survey among 1 580 college students from 4 colleges and universities in Hebei Province using psychological questionnaires for emergent events of public health and simplified coping style questionnaire. Nonparametric test, binary logistic, multiple linear regression analyses were performed. Results Among depression, neurasthenia, fear, obsessive-anxiety and hypochondria, students′ fear scores are the highest [0.5 (0.5)]. College students with worse internet service(OR=2.23,2.39,4.11,95%CI:1.12-4.42,1.21-4.71,1.12-4.42)and cannot take online classes at scheduled times(OR=4.27,11.08,6.92, 95%CI:1.48-12.33, 1.45-11.65, 1.91-24.99) were susceptible to depression, neurasthenia and obsessive-anxiety separately. An irregular lifestyle was susceptible to depression [OR (95% CI)=2.75 (2.00-3.77)], neurasthenia[OR (95% CI)=2.75 (1.99-3.79)] and fear [OR (95% CI)=1.61 (1.25-2.07)]. Being bored while staying at home was susceptible to depression [OR (95% CI)=2.84 (2.05-3.93)], neurasthenia [OR (95% CI)=2.25 (1.63-3.11)], depression [OR (95% CI)=1.72 (1.36-2.18)], obsessive-anxiety[OR (95% CI)=4.64 (2.17-9.91)], hypochondria[OR (95% CI)=2.13 (1.29-3.53)]. Paying attention to the epidemic for more than 1 hour per day including all day and 1-3 hours was susceptible to fear [whole day: OR (95% CI)=5.15 (1.74-9.92), 1-3 hours: OR (95% CI)=3.67 (1.55-8.69)]. Health volunteers were susceptible to obsessive-anxiety [OR (95% CI)=4.31 (1.54-12.10)] and hypochondria [OR (95% CI)=3.66 (1.48-9.06)] (all P<0.05). Those who live in the city (b=0.063, P=0.018), being bored while staying at home (b=0.098, P＜0.001), an irregular lifestyle (b=0.060, P=0.019), medical students (b=0.083, P=0.003), liberal arts students (b=0.091, P=0.003) were tend to negative coping styles compared to living in the country, not being bored while staying at home, regular lifestyle, and science student. Conclusions During the early phase of the COVID-19 epidemic, college students were mainly fearful. Colleges and universities should focus on the mental health of those who can′t take online classes on time, maintain irregular lifestyle, feel bored while staying at home, pay attention to the epidemic situation for more than one hour a day, and are volunteers for epidemic prevention, as well as pay attention to the coping styles of college students who live in cities, feel bored while staying at home, and have irregular lifestyle, medical students, and liberal arts students, in order to carry out targeted psychological intervention, and cultivate positive coping styles of college students and improve their ability to solve problems.

Key words: COVID-19, College students, Mental status, Coping style