Dataset Information

Psychological impact of COVID-19 and lock down measures: An online cross-sectional multicounty study on Asian university students.

ABSTRACT: The COVID-19 pandemic and the lockdown measures have taken a toll on every level of the society, worldwide. This study examines their psychological impact on university students in Asia. A cross-sectional online survey was conducted between April and May 2020 in Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Bangladesh, China, India and Indonesia. The Zung's self-rating anxiety scale (SAS) and questions on adaptive and maladaptive coping strategies were used in this study. A total of 3,679 students from the seven countries participated in this study. Overall, 21.9% and 13.7% of the students in this study experienced mild to moderate and severe to extreme levels of anxiety. More than 20% of the students from China and Bangladesh reported severe to extreme level of anxiety compared to below 10% of the students from Indonesia, Malaysia and India. Among the female students, 15.9% experienced severe to extreme level of anxiety compared to 10.6% among the males. Females from Bangladesh, China, Malaysia, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia experienced significantly higher levels of anxiety compared to their male counterparts. Acceptance was the most used and Seeking Social Support was the least used coping strategies among the students. There were significant differences in the usage of the four strategies by countries. Stressors are predominantly financial constraints, remote online learning, and uncertainty related to their academic performance, and future career prospects.

SUBMITTER: Chinna K

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8330936 | biostudies-literature | 2021

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Psychological impact of COVID-19 and lock down measures: An online cross-sectional multicounty study on Asian university students.

Chinna Karuthan K Sundarasen Sheela S Khoshaim Heba Bakr HB Kamaludin Kamilah K Nurunnabi Mohammad M Baloch Gul Mohammad GM Hossain Syed Far Abid SFA Sukayt Areej A Dalina Nevi N Rajagopalan Usha U Kumar Ramesh R Memon Zahid Z

PloS one 20210803 8

The COVID-19 pandemic and the lockdown measures have taken a toll on every level of the society, worldwide. This study examines their psychological impact on university students in Asia. A cross-sectional online survey was conducted between April and May 2020 in Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Bangladesh, China, India and Indonesia. The Zung's self-rating anxiety scale (SAS) and questions on adaptive and maladaptive coping strategies were used in this study. A total of 3,679 students from the ...[more]

PMID: 34343187

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Project description:BackgroundDetermining factors correlated with protective measures against COVID-19 is important to improve public health response. This study describes student opinions related to university COVID-19 preventive measures.MethodsIn fall 2020, 643 US university students completed an online survey on perception, awareness, and adherence to COVID-19 preventive measures. Outcomes included protocol effectiveness (self or others), protocol adherence (self or others), consequences of protocol violation, knowledge of violations, and level of concern for COVID-19. Multiple linear regression models determined correlates of outcome variables. Covariates included gender, race, residence, area of study, class, and knowledge of someone with a positive COVID-19 test.ResultsOverall, students agreed with protective measures (equivalent to higher scores). In adjusted linear models, females (versus males) had significantly higher scores for protocol effectiveness (self) (p < 0.001), consequences of protocol violation (p = 0.005), and concern about COVID-19 (p < 0.001). Asian/Pacific Islander (versus white) had significantly higher scores for protocol effectiveness (self) (p < 0.001), consequences of protocol violation (p = 0.008), and concern about COVID-19 (p = 0.001). Graduate students (versus freshman) had higher scores for protocol effectiveness (self) (p < 0.001), protocol adherence (self) (p = 0.004) and concern about COVID-19 (p < 0.001). In contrast, participants who had a positive COVID-19 test had significantly lower scores for protocol effectiveness (self) (p = 0.02), protocol adherence (self) (p = 0.004), and consequences of protocol violation (p = 0.008).ConclusionOverall, females, Asian/Pacific Islanders, and graduate students were more likely to agree with or adhere to COVID-19 prevention guidelines but those who tested positive for COVID-19 were less likely to do so. These results may inform future prevention efforts.

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Dataset Information

Psychological impact of COVID-19 and lock down measures: An online cross-sectional multicounty study on Asian university students.

Publications

Psychological impact of COVID-19 and lock down measures: An online cross-sectional multicounty study on Asian university students.

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