scholarly journals Prevalence of Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Among University Students After the COVID-19 First Wave in Pakistan

Author(s):  
Wizra Saeed ◽  
Saira Irfan ◽  
Neelam Zafar ◽  
Faiqa Cheema

COVID-19, the worst public health emergency in a decade, has had a profound impact on people's mental health. Universities in Pakistan have reopened, although it is uncertain how to prevent secondary damage to students as a result of the reopening. The purpose of this study was to determine the prevalence of depression, anxiety and stress among students following the reopening of universities after the COVID-19 first wave. Furthermore, gender differences in depression, anxiety, and stress were also investigated, as well as the predictive value of CGPA in depression, anxiety, and stress. The sample was (N=360) university students. Data was collected from the two cites of Pakistan. The DASS-21 was used to assess levels of depression, anxiety, and stress among students (Lovibond & Lovibond, 1995). SPSS version 21 was used to analyze the data. Results indicated that the level of psychological distress has increased among university students due to the reopening of universities. Findings revealed significant differences in depression and anxiety levels based on the three academic disciplines. In addition, male students showed significantly higher levels of depression, anxiety and stress than female students and CGPA significantly and negatively predicted depression and stress. Based on the findings of this study, it is suggested that thorough and targeted psychological interventions for students' mental health should be established, particularly in high-risk cities and during the COVID-19 pandemic late phases.

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sulhi Alfakeh

BACKGROUND The continuous reporting of the latest confirmed COVID-19 cases in Saudi Arabia and globally, with the concomitant social distancing measures and university closures, is likely to affect the mental wellbeing of many university students. There have been many reports on the psychological effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the public, hospital staff, patients, children, and older adults [4,5]. However, to date, only a few studies on the mental health effects of COVID-19 and the wellbeing of college students have been conducted during the pandemic [6]. In this study, we aimed to estimate the mental health impact of COVID-19 on university students in Saudi Arabia. We conducted our study to learn more about the psychological status of university students through the pandemic for the following reasons: to evaluate the prevalence of stress, anxiety, and depression of university students during the pandemic; and to provide a basis for universities and governmental policies to support university students affected by the impact of COVID-19. OBJECTIVE Objective: To estimate the psychological impact of COVID-19 on university students in Saudi Arabia. METHODS Method: The Depression Anxiety Stress Scales 21 (DASS-21) questionnaire was distributed via the university students’ accounts. Of the 71,945 full-time undergraduate university students, 3,515 respondents completed the questionnaires. The study questionnaire also included demographic information, including age, gender, source of income, living arrangements, smoking status, and weekly physical exercise. RESULTS Results: Nearly half of participants had normal stress (40.5%, n = 1425) and anxiety (42.4%, n = 1492) levels. In terms of depression, nearly one-third of subjects were classified as ‘normal’ (29.3%, n = 1031); however, one-fourth of them were classified as ‘extremely severe’ (23.8%, n = 838). There were significantly higher levels of stress among female students. Also, a significantly higher rate of male students (50.4%, n = 667) had normal anxiety levels, compared with female students (37.7%, n = 825). Finally. significantly higher proportion of female students had symptoms of depression (72.66%, n = 1,592) compared with the degrees of depression among male students (67.37%, n = 892). CONCLUSIONS Conclusion: We detected that stress, anxiety, and depression increased during the COVID-19 pandemic, and university students were at more risk of developing mental health issues. Ongoing follow-up and monitoring of psychological consequences and their potential negative impact on academic performance and mental wellbeing are needed. CLINICALTRIAL none


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ru Jia ◽  
Holly Knight ◽  
Kieran Ayling ◽  
Carol Coupland ◽  
Jessia Corner ◽  
...  

Background: The impact of changing social restrictions on the mental health of students during the COVID-19 pandemic warrants exploration. Aims: To prospectively examine changes to university students mental health during the pandemic. Methods: Students completed repeated online surveys at three time points (October 2020 (baseline), February 2021, March 2021) to explore relationships between demographic and psychological factors (loneliness and positive mood) and mental health outcomes (depression, anxiety, and stress). Results: A total of 893 students participated. Depression and anxiety levels were higher at all timepoints than pre-pandemic normative data (p<.001). Scores on all mental health measures were highest in February, with depression and anxiety remaining significantly higher in March than baseline. Female students and those with previous mental health disorders were at greatest risk of poor mental health outcomes. Lower positive mood and greater loneliness at baseline were associated with greater depression and anxiety at follow-ups. Baseline positive mood predicted improvement of depression and anxiety at follow-ups. Conclusion: Depression and anxiety were significantly higher than pre-pandemic norms, with female students and those with previous mental health difficulties being at greatest risk. Given these elevated rates, universities should ensure adequate support is available to meet potentially increased demand for services.


2020 ◽  
Vol 7 (07) ◽  
pp. 4887-4894
Author(s):  
Mustafa Çalık

Objective The outbreak of the 2019 novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) caused considerable public health problems. Departing from the case of COVID-19, this paper aims to not only find out the psychological impacts of the changes in universities’ educational programs on undergraduate students in Turkey but also make a scientific contribution to determining what kinds of supports can be given to university students in other possible social catastrophes that could take place in any future time. Material- Methods 1117 university students over the age of 17 from 23 universities  took part in this study by completing the online questionnaire we prepared on the Internet. The relationship between university students’ stress and anxiety levels and their age, gender and class year were examined. Result While average BAI scores of male students were 11.56, female students’ average BAI scores were 16.65. Average STAI-1 points of male and female students were 46,71 and 49,04, respectively. As a result, it was found that there were significant differences between BAI and STAI-1 scores of male and female students.(p<0.05) Conclusion ''Our study found that more than two/three of the  university students suffered from anxiety symptoms during the COVID-19 outbreak.'. In this regard, it can said that university students should learn to deal with such mental and emotional problems as stress, anxiety and fear, which more likely require psychological and physical effort, by taking necessary measures during important social catastrophes such as Covid-19 outbreak.


2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-6
Author(s):  
Shifa Shaffique ◽  
Sehar Shahzad Farooq ◽  
Haseeb Anwar ◽  
Hafiz Muhammad Asif ◽  
Muhammad Akram ◽  
...  

Background: The global burden on mental disorders have become too advanced with serious consequences on health and society. Over the years, depression, stress, and anxiety have become more common symptoms which affect all over population pyramid irrespective of the gender. Mental disorders are second most health indicator that causes morbidity. Objectives: The mental disorders affect the entire population and both genders equally. Present study was conducted to carry out meta-analysis study to highlight the prevalence of anxiety, depression, and stress among university students. Methodology: Various search engines i.e. Google scholar, Duckduckgo, AOL, Baidu, Yahoo as well as books and newsletter were used to collect the data. Results: Despite tremendous development in the era of health and education, there is significant prevalence (79.5%) of anxiety, depression, and stress in medical students that leads to morbidity and poor mental health disorders among these students. Conclusion: It is concluded from meta-analysis study that prevalence of depression and anxiety is alarmingly high. There is a need of the hour to develop and design the mental health prevention programs and health education programs to overcome this issue.


2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 18
Author(s):  
Anil Gorkem ◽  
Ayse Bengisoy

The aim of this study is to investigate students in classes 1-2-3-4, studying Pyschological Guidance and Counselling (PGC) at a university in T.R.N.C. (Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus) in their relationships with their parents and their attitudes towards marriage. The study includes 325 students and was conducted during the spring of 2015-2016. ‘Personal information forms’, ‘İnönü Marriage Attitudes Scale, ‘Attitudes towards Parents Scale I and II’ have been used in order to collect research data. The viewpoints of the student PCG group, who work with child and family, have been particularly focused in connection to all of these. The findings revealed that female students’ attitudes towards their mothers are better compared to that of male students. However, in terms of gender, no connection was found between attitude towards their father and their attitude towards marriage. As female PCG students’ attitude towards their mother increases, so too has their attitude towards their father and their attitudes towards marriage. For the men whose parents are still together (not separated), there is no link between their strong attiudes towards their parents and their attitude towards marriage. It has come to light that female students, whose parents are separated, have a stronger attitude towards their mother and father. No connection was found between the students’ parents being married or having separate living arrangements and the students’ gender. Male students with parents who live separately have a stronger approach towards their their mother and father.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brooke Linden ◽  
Randall Boyes ◽  
Heather Stuart

BACKGROUND: Canadian post-secondary students are considered to be at risk for chronic stress and languishing mental health, but there has been no longitudinal analysis of the available population-level data. The purpose of this study was to examine trends in the overall and sex-specific prevalence of self-reported stress, distress, mental illness, and help seeking behaviours among Canadian post-secondary students over the past several years. METHODS: Using the 2013, 2016, and 2019 iterations of the National College Health Assessment II Canadian Reference data, we conducted a trend analysis for each variable of interest, stratified by sex. The significance and magnitude of the changes were modelled using cumulative linked ordinal regression models and log binomial regression models.RESULTS: With few exceptions, we observed significant increases over time in the proportion of students reporting symptoms of psychological distress, mental illness diagnoses, and help seeking for mental health related challenges. Female students reported a higher level of stress than male students, with a statistically significant increase in the stress level reported by female students observed over time. In all cases, larger proportions of female students were observed compared to male students, with the proportion of female students who self-reported mental illness diagnoses nearly doubling that of males. CONCLUSIONS: Our analysis indicated that the proportion of students self-reporting mental health related challenges, including stress, psychological distress, and diagnosed mental illnesses increased between the 2013, 2016 and 2019 iterations of the NCHA II conducted among Canadian post-secondary students.


Author(s):  
M.Siyabend KAYA ◽  
Yavuz KOŞAN

The current study focused on exploring the psychological impact of the COVID -19 outbreak on university students and participants' expectations of mental health professionals. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 80 university students aged 18 to 33 years from 19 cities in Turkey. Qualitative content analysis was used to identify important aspects of the students' experiences. According to the results, the main effects of the epidemic COVID -19 on the participants were depression and anxiety. We found that participants used various ways to cope with COVID -19 such as reading books and paying attention to hygiene. Participants also indicated that they perceived some positive situations, such as the value of nature and humanity, the importance of family, and various negative situations, such as mental exhaustion. Finally, participants stressed that they had different expectations regarding psychosocial support and the planning of individual activities by mental health professionals


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Micaela Di Consiglio ◽  
Sheila Merola ◽  
Tiziana Pascucci ◽  
Cristiano Violani ◽  
Alessandro Couyoumdjian

BACKGROUND To reduce the spread of Covid-19 the Italian government imposed a rigid lockdown and, for a whole year, it kept declaring stringent rules to curb the community spread. The pandemic had a great negative impact on general population mental health, including the one of university students. OBJECTIVE The study provides an overview about symptomatology and help-seeking behavior of university students before and during the Covid-19 pandemic and it aims to evaluate the impact of the different phases of the pandemic on students' mental health. METHODS We collected data in four time points: (1) March 2019-February 2020, (2) March-May 2020, (3) October-December 2020, (4) January 2020-March 2021. A total of 454 students have been included in the study. Students answered a socio-demographic questionnaire and a standardized questionnaire to evaluate a broad range of symptoms of psychopathology. Descriptive analyses have been conducted to explore student’s symptomatology and help-seeking behavior. Considering the significant gender-difference distribution between groups, groups comparison analysis has been conducted considering male and female separately. RESULTS Considering the total sample size, results suggest that students have experienced moderate to severe levels of depressive, obsessive-compulsive and anxiety symptomatology. About 14% of the sample met criteria for at least one mental health disorders, but most of them were not receiving mental health care. Moreover, during the lockdown, compared with other phases, female students reported worse symptoms in the following dimension: obsessive-compulsive, interpersonal sensitivity, depression, paranoid ideation and psychoticism. The increasing symptomatology quickly disappeared after the lifting of the quarantine. Results showed any difference in the male groups. CONCLUSIONS Our findings support the view of a negative mental health condition of university students and indicate an increase of symptomatology during the lockdown among female students. Preventive and support strategies should be improved in the university context.


2018 ◽  
Vol 11 (5) ◽  
pp. 356-367 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jaffar Abbas ◽  
Muhammad Aqeel ◽  
Zhang Wenhong ◽  
Jaffar Aman ◽  
Farough Zahra

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the moderating role of the demographic variables in emotional intelligence, homesickness and the development of mood swings in university students. Additionally, the paper investigates the relationship among emotional intelligence, homesickness and mood swings in university students. Design/methodology/approach Purposive sampling technique was employed based on a cross-sectional design. The sample comprised 304 university students (male students, n=210, female students, n=94). Three scales were used to measure the homesickness, emotional intelligence and positive and negative mood swings in university students. Findings The results revealed that homesickness was positively and significantly correlated with mood swings (r=0.34, p<0.001) and negative mood swings (r=0.49, p<0.001). The result also displayed that emotional intelligence was correlated with homesickness (r=−0.15, p<0.05), positive mood swings (r=0.33, p<0.05) and negative mood swings (r=−0.24, p<0.05). The results of the analysis revealed that demographic variables such as age and gender were the moderator between homesickness and development of mood swings. The results also revealed that demographic variable such as gender was the moderator between emotional intelligence and mood swings. This study recommended that those younger students who had experienced homesickness were more likely to develop negative mood swings as compared to older students. Social implications The study also recommended that those young students who had emotional intelligence were less likely to develop negative mood swings as compared to older students. Originality/value The study further recommended that those female students who had experienced homesickness were more likely to develop positive mood swings as compared to male students. Recommendations of the currents study are that university students can benefit equally but female students can benefit more from an intervention addressing homesickness. This study would be helpful in pedagogical and clinical settings to raise the awareness to effectively deal with their children.


Author(s):  
Syeda Beenish Bareeqa ◽  
Syed Ijlal Ahmed ◽  
Syeda Sana Samar ◽  
Waqas Yasin ◽  
Sani Zehra ◽  
...  

Background The novel coronavirus disease which is believed to have initially originated in Wuhan city of China at the end of 2019 was declared as pandemic by March 2020 by WHO. This pandemic significantly impacted the mental health of communities around the globe. This project draws data from available research to quantify COVID-19 mental health issues and its prevalence in China during the early period of the COVID-19 crisis. It is believed that this pooling of data will give fair estimate of the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on mental health. Methods We conducted this study in accordance with PRISMA guidelines 2009. The protocol for this review is registered and published in PROSPERO (CRD42020182893). The databases used were Pubmed, Medline, Google scholar and Scopus. The studies were extracted according to pre-defined eligibility criteria and risk of bias assessment was conducted. The Meta-analysis was done using OpenMeta [analyst]. Results Total of 62382 participants in nineteen studies fulfilled the eligibility criteria. Stress was the most prevalent (48.1%) mental health consequence of Covid-19 pandemic, followed by depression (26.9%) and anxiety (21.8%). After performing subgroup analysis, prevalence of depression and anxiety in both females and frontline health care workers were high as compared to the prevalence in general Chinese population. Conclusion The prevalence of depression and anxiety is moderately high whereas pooled prevalence of stress was found to be very high in Chinese people during this Covid-19 crisis.


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