Objective: To explore the characteristics of college students’ psychological stress and its
influencing factors during the development of COVID-19 pandemic, and to accumulate empirical data
for psychological stress and response to public health emergencies. Methods: 3015 college students were
pretested by self-compiled questionnaire during the “prevalent period”, 1859 students were post-tested
by self-compiled questionnaire and UPI during the “post-prevalent period”, and SPSS26.0 was used for
statistical analysis. Results: The psychological stress of college students increased with the increase of
the severity of the pandemic. The “prevalent period” was more serious than the “post-prevalent period”,
but in terms of irritability, the “post-prevalent period” was more serious. The degree of psychological
stress in females is higher than that in males. The psychological stress of first-year students is the lowest,
and that of third-year students is the highest. Undergraduates are more likely to have low pleasure than
graduate students. Proper attention should be paid to the pandemic situation, and one hour a day is more
suitable. The normal coping attitude is accompanied by low psychological stress. The acquisition and
application of psychological adjustment knowledge are accompanied by psychological stress. Conclusion:
The psychological stress of college teachers and students in the period of COVID-19 can be divided into
four stages: feeling period (perception period), rising period (out of control period), reducing period
(controllable period) and leaving marks period (disappearing period),and the mental health education
and intervention should be provided correspondingly.