scholarly journals The Emergence of Dissociative Experiences as a Function of Perceived Stress Among University Students During the COVID-19 Lockdown

Author(s):  
Szabolcs Garbóczy ◽  
Anita Szemán-Nagy ◽  
Mohamed S. Ahmad ◽  
Szilvia Harsányi ◽  
Dorottya Ocsenás ◽  
...  

Abstract Background: The findings of previous literature showed that epidemics and the associated control measures can increase the level of stress experienced by people. The phenomenon of dissociation has been investigated by many studies, and some have found that stress and trauma may play a central role in its development. In our research study, we examined the effect of COVID-19 lockdown on the mental health of students at the University of Debrecen in Hungary. We investigated whether or not the changes caused by the pandemic induced stress among students and whether or not it was accompanied by an increase in the number of dissociative experiences. Methods: A questionnaire-based cross-sectional study was conducted at the University of Debrecen in Hungary in the period April 30 - May 15, 2020, to assess levels of perceived stress as well as dissociative experiences among students at the time of the official nationwide lockdown. Our survey has adopted the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) and the Dissociative Experiences Scale (DES). A total of 1320 students have enrolled in our study. Results: Our results showed a high level of perceived stress among the students during the pandemic and lockdown. This elevation was found to have a significant correlation with the emergence of dissociative experiences among both the Hungarian and the international students. Also, these changes were significant among males and females and in all subscales. Female students’ levels of dissociative experiences were higher than of male students on all subscales and in both groups (Hungarian and international). Conclusion: According to our findings, the COVID-19 pandemic, and the quarantine situation increased the perceived stress level which has played a significant role in the development of dissociative experiences among the students. The increased frequency of dissociative experiences entails a higher risk to the appearance of dissociative disorders; thus, it is crucial to create a safety net for university students who are susceptible to high levels of stress.

2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 277-281
Author(s):  
Katayon Vakilian

Background: Unprotected sex, multi partnership, no or inconsistent use of the condom can be mentioned as risk behaviors putting youth at high risk to Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STDs). The present study aimed to investigate the knowledge of sexually transmitted diseases in the university students of Shahroud in Iran. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted in Shahroud city of Iran. 1500 female and male students in the age bracket of 18-24 were included in the study. Multistage sampling was employed. After stating the objective of the study, the questionnaire was distributed to students during the end of lecture time upon the agreement of the education officials and collected after 15 minutes. To ensure that the information provided will be kept confidential, the students were asked not to write down their names and fields of study. Data were described using descriptive statistics by SPSS software, version 20. Results: The answers showed that the female and male students have heard more about HIV (94.9% vs. 93.1%), gonorrhea (47.2% vs. 50.2%), genital herpes (45.6% vs. 33.1%), and genital warts (31.4% vs. 18.1%), in the order of frequency. 35.9% of females had no knowledge about the symptoms of diseases in women and 53% of males had no knowledge about the symptoms of the diseases in men. 26.6% of female students and 16% of male students knew regarding at least three symptoms of diseases. Conclusion: The present study showed that the university students' knowledge is far distant from the desired situation. This study succeeded in identifying the educational needs of the youth.


2014 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 193-198
Author(s):  
Heiko Haase ◽  
Arndt Lautenschläger

AbstractThe paper aims at exploring determinants of the university students' intentions to stay within their university region. At this, we presume that students' career choice motivations are related to their professional intentions, which again, along with demographic characteristics, affect their migration decision. Our analysis is based on a cross-sectional study of 2,353 students from three different higher education institutions, two of them located in Germany and one in Namibia. Results indicate that in Germany migration matters because a considerable proportion of students intend to leave the university region after graduation. At this, we found that the students' geographical provenance exerts the most significant effect on the intention to stay. Moreover, certain professional intentions were directly and some career choice motivations were indirectly linked with the intention to remain at the university location. We present several conclusions and implications.


Author(s):  
Mohamed M. Abd El-Mawgod ◽  
Shimaa A. Elghazally ◽  
Heba M. Mohammed ◽  
Mariam Roshdy Elkayat ◽  
Doaa M. M. Osman

Abstract Background A healthy youth is considered the major human resource for any country development. They are suffering from unmet health needs. Considering these needs and their attitude towards the use of youth health center (YHC) services would help to improve both the quality and quantity of these services. Objectives To identify the students’ perceived health needs and their attitude towards use of the YHCs in Assiut University campus, Upper Egypt a cross-sectional study was conducted among 305 randomly selected university students. Data were collected using an interviewer-administered questionnaire. Results The majority of the students (80%) said that youth have special health needs. The most reported needs were psychological support, health education on different topics including reproductive health and sexually transmitted diseases, and nutritional services respectively. There was a high perception among surveyed students (71.5%) that the existing health services are inadequate for meeting their needs. Counseling, laboratory services, and premarital examination were the most frequently reported services mentioned by youth to be offered in YHCs. The majority (78.1%) preferred the health provider to be of the same sex. Despite the prevailing conservative culture in Upper Egypt, the students had positive attitude towards availability of sexual and reproductive information and establishment of a YHC in the university campus. A low awareness rate (15.1%) about the already existing YHC in university campus was revealed. Conclusion University students perceived that there are unmet needs for youth-specialized services, mainly for providing sexual and reproductive information, and establishment of an on-campus YHC. The study provides important information for policymakers about the perspectives of youth which should be taken into consideration when new YHC are planned and implemented.


Author(s):  
Umer Maqsood ◽  
Roop Zahra ◽  
Muhammad Zahid Latif ◽  
Hena Athar ◽  
Gul Muhammad Shaikh ◽  
...  

Introduction: A variety of research studies have shown that caffeine usage is highly prevalent among university students and many of them have different perception of its effect on their mental and physical health. These perceptions can influence the intake of caffeine which may lead to its addiction, resulting in serious public health consequences. Aims & Objectives: The objective of the study is to determine the frequency of caffeine consumption and the perception of its effects among university students. Place and duration of study: This study was conducted within 6 months duration, from May 2018 to October 2019 among students of three private universities in Lahore, Pakistan. Material & Methods: This was a descriptive cross-sectional study. A sample size of 670 university students was taken and the data were collected from three private universities of Lahore through convenience sampling technique. The perception of effects of caffeine was determined through a pre-validated questionnaire, Caffeine Expectancy Questionnaire (CaffEQ) from consumers and nonconsumers of caffeine. Results: A total of 670 university students participated in the study, out of which, 278 (41.5%) were males and 392 (58.5%) were females. 506 (75.5%) participants were consumer of caffeine, while 164 (24.5%) were non consumer. The occurrence of caffeine consumption was more in males (79.9%) than in females (72.4%). Participants reported that they consume caffeine because it makes them feel more alert (83.4%), they experience caffeine withdrawal without caffeine (83%) and caffeine makes them feel more energetic (80.6%). The perceptions due to which participants don't consume caffeine were that they expect caffeine makes their heartbeat irregular (81.7%), they don't like the way caffeine makes them feel (80.5%) and caffeine makes them irritable (76.8%). Conclusion: The study concludes that male students had more tendencies towards caffeine consumption than females. Perceptions for consuming caffeine were feeling of alertness, experiencing caffeine withdrawal symptoms, feeling of energy and ability to work over long periods of time after having caffeine. The perceptions for not consuming caffeine were irregular heartbeat, bad feelings, irritability, and sleep disturbances.


2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Aleksandra M. Rogowska ◽  
Dominika Ochnik ◽  
Cezary Kuśnierz ◽  
Karolina Chilicka ◽  
Monika Jakubiak ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Research indicates that mental health worsened during the Coronavirus crisis, in particular among women and university students. However, few longitudinal studies have so far investigated the changes in mental health outcomes across three subsequent waves of the COVID-19 pandemic. Therefore, this study aims to examine changes in mental health among university students. Methods A total of 1,961university students from Poland, at mean age 23.23 years (SD = 3.16, 57.47% of women) were included in this repeated cross-sectional study across three waves of the COVID-19 pandemic: W1 (n = 657), W2 (n = 654), and W3 (n = 650). They completed the online survey with the Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD-7), Perceived Stress Scale (PSS-10), General Self-Rated Health (GSRH), and Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS), as well as sociodemographic variables. Results The prevalence of people at high risk of anxiety and perceived stress, poorer physical health, and low life satisfaction changed significantly across three waves of the COVID-19 pandemic. The results of the two-way ANOVA showed that both the wave (W1<W2<W3) and gender (men<women) had a significant impact on the level of anxiety. Statistically significant changes in perceived stress were found between pandemic waves (W1>W2, W1>W3), and genders (men<women). Self-reported physical health significantly deteriorated in W3 compared to W1 and W2 (W1>W3, W2>W3), and was significantly worse in women than in men. The level of life satisfaction also decreased significantly in W3 (W1>W3, W2>W3), but did not differ between men and women. High GAD risk was presented two times more frequently among women and people who subjectively assessed their health as poor, three times more likely in participants dissatisfied with their lives, and seven times more probably in persons with high-stress levels. Conclusions The results of this study consistently indicate (using parametric and non-parametric statistical analysis) that there are significant differences in mental health problems across three waves of the COVID-19 pandemic. It suggests that pandemic waves should be considered in future review studies and meta-analyses. Furthermore, these findings indicate a potential role for prevention and intervention programs aimed at alleviating life satisfaction and subjective assessment of health and improving coping skills to reduce stress and anxiety.


Author(s):  
Muhammad Shahid Iqbal ◽  
Salah-Ud-Din Khan ◽  
Muhammad Zahid Iqbal

Objective: The objective of the study was to evaluate the awareness of university students about oral health and hygiene in a university in Malaysia. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among the students of four different faculties (pharmacy, medical, biotechnology and business) in a university in Malaysia with the help of pre-validated research questionnaire.  The Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) Version 24.0 was used to analyze and present the data. Results: The final response gathered was 324 from four faculties. The pharmacy faculty students had better knowledge as compared to the other faculties. The female students had better knowledge of oral health hygiene as compared to males. Final year students reported more appropriate knowledge as compared to pre-final year students. Conclusion: Overall appropriate knowledge was observed among the four studied faculties of the university. The present study concluded that pharmacy students had more appropriate knowledge of oral health and hygiene than the other faculty students.


2019 ◽  
Vol 58 (3) ◽  
pp. 139-147
Author(s):  
Jure PUC ◽  
Petra Obadić ◽  
Vanja Erčulj ◽  
Ana Borovečki ◽  
Štefan Grosek

Abstract Objective To survey university students on their views concerning the respect for autonomy of patients and the best interest of patients in relation to the withholding of resuscitation. Methods A cross-sectional survey among university students of medicine, nursing, philosophy, law and theology of the first and the final study years at the University of Ljubljana and the University of Zagreb was conducted during the academic year of 2016/2017. A questionnaire constructed by Janiver et al. presenting clinical case vignettes was used. Results The survey response rates for students in Ljubljana and Zagreb were 45.4% (512 students) and 37.9% (812 students), respectively. The results of our research show statistically significant differences in do-not resuscitate decisions in different cases between medical and non-medical students in both countries. Male and religious students in both countries have lower odds of respecting relatives’ wishes for the withholding of resuscitation (odds ratio 0.49–0.54; 95% confidence interval). All students agreed that they would first resuscitate children if they had to prioritize among patients. Conclusions Our study clearly shows that gender, religious beliefs, and type of study are important factors associated with the decisions pertaining to the respect for autonomy, patient’s best interest, and initiation or withholding of resuscitation.


2016 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 142 ◽  
Author(s):  
Samman Chughtai

Self-medication is a common incidence in the world today. This study aims to evaluate self-medication among university students of Multan, Pakistan. This randomized cross sectional study was carried out in Bahauddin Zakariya University, Multan during December 2015- January 216. A sample size of 200 students was randomly selected. Response rate was 90% (n=182).The prevalence of self-medication among the students was determined to be 83%. There was difference in perception of pharmacy students and students of other professions. Most common condition in which students did self-medication was headache (49.66%; n=75). Students also showed tendency of self-medication in case of herbal and essential oil products (46.35%). Awareness concerning insecurity and benefits of self-medication must be spread among students to avoid the complications of self-medication. 


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