Mental health status and academic performance among undergraduate university students during post COVID-19
List of Authors
  • Norazzila Shafie , Wirawani Kamarulzaman

Keyword
  • mental health, gender difference, perceived stress scale (PSS), university students, quantitative study

Abstract
  • Human lives have been significantly impacted by the global COVID-19 epidemic. Worldwide implementation of the lockdown was necessary during the first wave of the pandemic to stop the virus' spread. Students had experienced mental health problems as a result of adjusting to the changes. Many researchers looked at students' mental health before the massive COVID-19 outbreak, but they hardly ever looked at situations like those during the endemic. As a result, the purpose of this study is to evaluate the mental health status of undergraduate students at universities, the differences in that status between genders, and the connection between that status and academic performance. The study employs the quantitative research design. Students' mental health was assessed using the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) developed by Cohen et al. (1983) to measure perceived stress among students. Survey method was used to collect the data from 142 undergraduate students voluntarily from public and private universities in Malaysia. The results show that there are only minor mental health issues among students, with female students reporting higher levels of stress than their male counterparts. Additionally, there is no connection between students' academic performance and their mental health. Also provided are a few ideas for additional study.

Reference
  • 1. Abai, B. R., & Madihie, A. (2021). Perceived Stress and Resilience among Private and Public Undergraduate University Students during Covid-19 Pandemic. Journal of Cognitive Sciences and Human Development, 7(2), 91–107. https://doi.org/10.33736/jcshd. 3636.2021 2. al Shaibani, T., Naguib, Y., Abdul Razzak, R., & Ali, F. (2020). Impact of COVID-19 pandemic on students’ performance in a problem-based learning system: comparative study between face-to-face-and virtual learning. Research Square. https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-114856/v1 3. Algarni, F. S. (2020). Gender differences in scores of anxiety and depression among physical therapy students of Saudi Arabia: A cross-sectional study. International Journal of Physiotherapy and Research, 8(4), 3537–3546. https://doi.org/10.16965/ijpr.2020.145 4. Azali, H. (2021, September 9). 2,735 pelajar UMK akan kembali belajar secara bersemuka - Journal Malaysia. Journal Malaysia. https://www.journalmalaysia.com/2021/09/09/ 2735-pelajar-umk-akan-kembali-belajar-secara-bersemuka/ 5. Bermejo-Franco, A., Sánchez-Sánchez, J. L., Gaviña-Barroso, M. I., Atienza-Carbonell, B., Balanzá-Martínez, V., & Clemente-Suárez, V. J. (2022). Gender differences in psychological stress factors of physical therapy degree students in the COVID-19 pandemic: A cross-sectional study. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 19(2). https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19020810 6. Cohen, S., Kamarck, T., & Mermelstein, R. (1983). A global measure of perceived stress. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 24(4), 385–396. https://doi.org/10.2307/ 2136404 7. Elshareef Mohammed, A. M., Osman Ahmed, N., & Hassan Mohammed, O. (2022). Study on the impact of online learning on students’ academic performance. Asian Journal of Multidisciplinary Research & Review (AJMRR), 3(2), 167–183. 8. Ghazal, G., Abdelaziz, W., & Amer, H. (2021). Perceived sources of stress and coping strategies among undergraduate dental students in public university and private university (Cross sectional study). Alexandria Dental Journal, 0(0), 0–0. https://doi.org/10.21608/adjalexu.2020.28823.1060 9. Gravesid, B. S., Hall, M. E., Dias-Karch, C., Haischerid, M. H., & Apter, C. (2021). Gender differences in perceived stress and coping among college students. PLOS ONE, 16(8), 1–12. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0255634 10. Hajj, A., Badro, D. A., Selwan, C. A., Aoun, R., & Salameh, P. (2020). Gender Differences in Mental Health Outcomes Amid the COVID-19. Research Square, 1–13. https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-122511/v1 11. Hamaideh, S. H., Al-Modallal, H., Tanash, M., & Hamdan-Mansour, A. (2021). Depression, anxiety and stress among undergraduate students during COVID-19 outbreak and “home-quarantine.” Nursing Open, 9, 1423–1431. https://doi.org/10.1002/nop2.918 12. Kamruzzaman, M., Hossain, A., Islam, M. A., Ahmed, M. S., & Kabir, E. (2022). Prevalence of depression, anxiety, stress, and their associated factors among university students in Bangladesh. Research Square. https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-1530510/v1 13. Kumari, P., Gupta, P., Piyoosh, A. K., Tyagi, B., & Kumar, P. (2021). COVID 19 : Impact on mental health of graduating and post graduating students. Journal of Statistics and Management Systems, 24(1), 67–79. https://doi.org/10.1080/09720510.2020. 1833449 14. Mitra Ghosh, S. (2016). Academic stress among government and private high school students. The International Journal of Indian Psychology, 3(2), 119–125. http://www.ijip.in| 15. Musco, N., Alluwaimi, A. M., Hashem, N. M., & Mahdy, M. A. A. (2020). The impact of COVID-19 pandemic on the academic performance of veterinary medical students. Frontiers in Veterinary Science | www.frontiersin.org, 7, 594261. https://doi.org/10.3389/fvets.2020.594261 16. Nazempour, R., Darabi, H., & Nelson, P. C. (2022). Impacts on students’ academic performance due to emergency transition to remote teaching during the COVID-19 pandemic: A financial engineering course case study. Education Sciences, 12(3). https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci12030202 17. Opanković, A., Latas, M., Jerotić, S., Ristić, I., & Milovanović, S. (2021). Gender differences in depression, anxiety, and stress during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in serbia - results from an online survey. European Psychiatry, 64(S1), S270–S271. https://doi.org/10.1192/J.EURPSY.2021.726 18. Racine, V. (2020, October 2). The impact of stress on your mental health. Canadian Red Cross Blog. https://www.redcross.ca/blog/2020/10/the-impact-of-stress-on-your-mental-health 19. Ruiz-Robledillo, N., Vela-Bermejo, J., Clement-Carbonell, V., Ferrer-Cascales, R., Alcocer-Bruno, C., & Albaladejo-Blázquez, N. (2022). Impact of COVID-19 pandemic on academic stress and perceived classroom climate in Spanish university students. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 19(7). https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19074398 20. Shanmugam, H., Ariff Juhari, J., Nair, P., Soon Ken, C., & Chong Guan, N. (2020). Impacts of COVID-19 pandemic on mental health in Malaysia: A single thread of hope. MJP Online Early, 29(1), 1–2. 21. Tan, C. (2021). The impact of COVID-19 pandemic on student learning performance from the perspectives of community of inquiry. Corporate Governance (Bingley), 21(6), 1215–1228. https://doi.org/10.1108/CG-09-2020-0419 22. Tumonggor, D., Sri Sutanti, Y., Evan, E., & Winata, S. D. (2021). Relationship between stress and academic performance among students in FKIK UKRIDA class of 2017-2019 during COVID-19 pandemic. Dinasti International Journal of Education Management and Social Science, 2(6), 940–953. 23. Vuelvas-Olmos, C. R., Sánchez-Vidaña, D. I., & Cortés-Álvarez, N. Y. (2022). Gender-based analysis of the association between mental health, sleep quality, aggression, and physical activity among university students during the COVID-19 outbreak. Psychological Reports. https://doi.org/10.1177/00332941221086209/FORMAT/ EPUB 24. Watermeyer, R., Crick, T., Knight, C., & Goodall, J. (2021). COVID-19 and digital disruption in UK universities: afflictions and affordances of emergency online migration. Higher Education, 81(3), 623–641. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10734-020-00561-y 25. Yee, A., Hodori, N. ‘Aqilah M., Tung, Y. Z., Ooi, P. L., Latif, S. A. B. A., Isa, H. M., Ng, D. L. C., Chai, C. S., & Tan, S. B. (2021). Depression level and coping responses toward the movement control order and its impact on quality of life in the Malaysian community during the COVID-19 pandemic: a web-based cross-sectional study. Annals of General Psychiatry, 20(1), 1–9. https://doi.org/10.1186/S12991-021-00352-4/TABLES/3 26. Zolochevskaya, E. Y., Zubanova, S. G., Fedorova, N. V., & Sivakova, Y. E. (2021). Education policy: The impact of e-learning on academic performance. E3S Web of Conferences, 244. https://doi.org/10.1051/e3sconf/202124411024