TITLE:
Psychology University Students’ Mental Health Status during COVID-19 Pandemic in Karachi, Pakistan
AUTHORS:
Aisha Noorullah, Mubarak Mansoor, Ayesha Zahid
KEYWORDS:
COVID-19, Students, Mental Health, Depression, Anxiety
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Psychiatry,
Vol.13 No.2,
March
17,
2023
ABSTRACT: Purpose: The COVID-19 pandemic has
brought challenges in various domains of life but for low and middle-income country university students very demanding situations have emerged. University students’ psychological well-being has always been an area of concern worldwide and higher rates of anxiety
and depression have been extensively reported among this cohort. Objective: To determine the frequency of
depressive symptoms, anxiety symptoms, and quality of sleep and the association
of sleep quality and personality traits with anxiety and depressive symptoms
among university students in Karachi, Pakistan in the context of the pandemic COVID-19. Method: This web-based cross-sectional study was conducted among the
students of a renowned, private, and HEC-recognized university during March 2020 to April 2020. Google forms were used to disseminate the online questionnaire to screen for depression-Patient Health Questionnaire—PHQ-9,
anxiety-Generalized Anxiety Disorder—GAD-7, sleep-quality-Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index Scale— PSQI and personality traits-Short Term Big Five Inventory—BFI-S. Results: Among the total sample size of 227
students, a considerable proportion of student participants had symptoms of
mild anxiety [34.8%], moderate anxiety [15.9%], severe anxiety [18%], mild
depression [19.8%], moderate depression [21.5%], moderately severe depression [13.3%] and severe
depression [12%]. The majority of them were poor sleepers [77.5%]. Poor
sleep quality was also associated with the level of depression and anxiety with
a p-value of tiousness, Extroversion & Neuroticism were
comparatively more vulnerable to anxiety and
depression than people with other traits. Conclusion: This study
gives strong evidence that a large percentage of university students have been
suffering from depressive and anxiety
symptoms during the COVID-19 pandemic accompanied by poor sleep quality. Protecting students’ mental health is an inevitable
target during health crises by developing preventive strategies and
interventions to address the psychological well-being of university students. The
findings also highlight the significance of personality traits as a relevant component of individual differences to
respond to various health-related emergencies.