scholarly journals Dingle & Han 2021 The Effect of COVID-19 on Australian University Students' Mental Health

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Genevieve Dingle

This is a summary report of survey data from two cohorts of first year university students at a metropolitan university in Australia: 2019 (i.e., pre-COVID-19) and in 2020 (during the first wave of COVID-19). The results show clear detrimental impact of COVID-19 on multiple measures of stress, mental health and wellbeing, loneliness. The only measure that did not worsen was risky drinking. A sense of belonging to the university and the use of coping strategies were associated with better mental health.

2020 ◽  
Vol 30 (Supplement_5) ◽  
Author(s):  
S Čanković ◽  
D Čanković ◽  
I Radić ◽  
D Rakić ◽  
S Ukropina ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Some findings indicate that university students are at higher risk of depression despite being a socially advantaged population, showing that 15 to 25% of them develop some type of mental disorder during graduation, and depression is one of the most prevalent. The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence of depressive symptoms and its association with gender, material status, social health, and behavioral factors among university students. Methods The research represents a cross-sectional study conducted at the University of Novi Sad, Serbia. The research involved 455 first-year students. The average age of participants was 19.3 years (72.1% girls and 27.9% boys). Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) was used to measure depressive symptoms (cut point for depressive episode ≥10). Additional questions were focused on self-assessed material status, social health, and behavioral factors (smoking and alcohol use). The binary logistic regression model was used to estimate the association between depression and observed independent variables. Results The prevalence of moderate to severe depressive episode among students was 18.0%, with no gender differences. Out of the total, 11.0% of students had suicidal thoughts or thoughts of hurting themselves. Multivariable logistic regression showed that self-assessed poor material status (OR = 2.04; 95%CI: 1.06-3.89), self-assessed poor social health (OR = 8.9; 95%CI:4.87-16.42) and smoking (OR = 2.18; 95%CI: 1.09-4.39) were significant predictors of depression among first-year university students. Conclusions High prevalence of depressive episode among university students call for the action for the promotion of mental health, particularly among those of lower socioeconomic status, and points out the importance of social health and social network in the prevention of mental disorders. Key messages Students on the first year of University should be screened for depressive symptoms. It is important to educate students on how to create a strong support network and to implement intervention programs for improving mental health through fostering healthy lifestyles change.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anne Duffy ◽  
Charles Keown-Stoneman ◽  
Sarah Goodday ◽  
Julie Horrocks ◽  
Matthew Lowe ◽  
...  

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 76-82
Author(s):  
Mariela Todorova-Koleva

The article represents the main points of the pedagogical interaction between first year university students, and the lecturers in the university environment. An inquiry was conducted among 45 students from the Faculty of Education in University of Veliko Tarnovo „St. Cyril and St. Methodius According to the students, the basis of good and effective interaction is mutual respect, good communication and communication skills, the presence of feedback and a process involving both the lecturers and the student.


1998 ◽  
Vol 82 (3_suppl) ◽  
pp. 1135-1138 ◽  
Author(s):  
Varghese Iepen Cherian ◽  
Lily Cherian

Considerable information is available on the adjustment problems of first-year university students in developed countries, but comparatively little is known about such problems in Asia and Africa. This study of a representative sample of 1257 first-year students conducted at the University of the North showed that 33 to 85% of the first-year students experienced various adjustment problems.


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 427-448
Author(s):  
Ezra Putranda Setiawan ◽  
Heru Sukoco

Statistical literacy, which is the ability to use statistics in daily life, is an essential skill for facing society 5.0. This study aims to explore first-year university students’ ability to properly use simple descriptive statistics and data visualization. Qualitative data were collected using a set of questions from 39 undergraduate students. Many students were able to calculate various descriptive statistics, but some of them were still unable to determine suitable statistics to describe the data clearly. Related to data visualization, many students failed to provide a meaningful chart that effectively shows the difference between two groups of data. Students with higher statistical literacy tend to use comparison or variability reasoning to determine the usage of descriptive statistics, and use data-based reason in visualizing the data. Improvement in statistical teaching – both in the university and the secondary school – is needed so that the students can use descriptive statistics and data visualization correctly.


PLoS ONE ◽  
2022 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. e0262550
Author(s):  
Ryo Horita ◽  
Akihiro Nishio ◽  
Mayumi Yamamoto

Background The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic is continuing unabated in Japan, as of October 2021. We aimed to compare first-year university students’ psychological distress before the pandemic in 2019, during the pandemic in 2020, and one year after the onset of the pandemic, in 2021. Methods The study conducted online surveys over three years from April to May each year. Participants were 400 first-year students in 2019, 766 in 2020, and 738 in 2021. We examined differences in scores on the Counseling Center Assessment of Psychological Symptoms—Japanese version (CCAPS-Japanese) between the three years using a one-way analysis of variance, and differences in the CCAPS-Japanese critical items using chi-squared test and residual analysis. Results The average scores on the Depression and Generalized Anxiety subscale in 2021 were significantly higher than those in 2020, but remained the same as in 2019. The Academic Distress subscale score in 2020 was the worst compared to 2019 and 2021. Meanwhile, the number of students who experienced severe suicidal ideation increased year by year from 2019 to 2021. Conclusion The mean mental health of first-year university students worsened after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, and recovered to the pre-pandemic level over the next two years. However, the number of high-risk students with suicidal ideation continued to increase. A system is required for early detection and support for students at high risk of mental health issues.


2016 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 1182-1194
Author(s):  
Btissam GUENNOUN ◽  
Nadia Benjelloun

Within the framework of a research aiming to evaluate the impact of the use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) in higher teaching of physics, we carried out a study with 122 students enrolled in first year of the science spinneret of the physical matter (SMP) at the University Sidi Mohammed Ben Abdellah, Faculty of Sciences Dhar El Mahraz – fez. This study aims in particular to identify the perceptions which these students have after learning the course of electricity integrating the ICT.The results of our investigation also show that the use of these tools in this course has provided an easy and convenient access to its scientific content and improved the learning of 48.4% of the questioned students, in addition it allowed 52.5% of the surveyed students to actively participate and to ask more questions during the course. The results of our study have also shown that the teaching of the course of electricity within the university should be accompanied by a handout and based on more developed and detailed demonstrations in the board and a judicious use of the presentations integrating filmed experiments.


Author(s):  
Maria Koschig ◽  
Ines Conrad ◽  
Steffi G. Riedel-Heller

Abstract Objectives The study should show how familiar German first year university students are with mental health issues and what their attitudes are regarding mental illness. Methods The study sample consisted of 293 first year German university students (20.37 years ± 1.88), most of them women (82.9%). The majority (77.6%) was studying a social type subject. An additive focus group consisted of four experts. The participants of the quantitative part were recruited at prevention workshops that were offered during the induction week at the beginning of the semester at 15 German universities. Experts of the focus group were recruited by telephone call. In addition to quantitative analysis, we realized a focus group with experts of our target group concerns and university system. For statistical analysis, we used statistic software programme “SPSS” 24 to conduct t-tests. We used content-analytical evaluation to build a category system. Results Every fourth participant reported having had a mental health problem. Male participants had a slightly greater desire for social distance (p=0.008; df=288) and slightly stronger stereotypes (p<0.001; df=289). Conclusions The present study shows that first year university students in Germany have substantial experience with mental health problems.


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