Anxiety and Suicidal Thoughts During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Cross-Country Comparative Study Among Indonesian, Taiwanese, and Thai University Students.

Moses Glorino Rumambo Pandin,Chung-Ying Lin,Mark D Griffiths,Cheng-Fang Yen,Nai-Ying Ko,Iqbal Pramukti,Carol Strong,Agus Setiawan,Yajai Sitthimongkol

doi:10.2196/24487

Abstract

BackgroundThe COVID-19 pandemic has negatively affected the mental health of university students.ObjectiveThis study examined the psychological responses toward COVID-19 among university students from 3 countries—Indonesia, Taiwan, and Thailand.MethodsWe used a web-based, cross-sectional survey to recruit 1985 university students from 5 public universities (2 in Indonesia, 1 in Thailand, and 1 in Taiwan) via popular social media platforms such as Facebook, LINE, WhatsApp, and broadcast. All students (n=938 in Indonesia, n=734 in Thailand, and n=313 in Taiwan) answered questions concerning their anxiety, suicidal thoughts (or sadness), confidence in pandemic control, risk perception of susceptibility to infection, perceived support, resources for fighting infection, and sources of information in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.ResultsAmong the 3 student groups, Thai students had the highest levels of anxiety but the lowest levels of confidence in pandemic control and available resources for fighting COVID-19. Factors associated with higher anxiety differed across countries. Less perceived satisfactory support was associated with more suicidal thoughts among Indonesian students. On the other hand, Taiwanese students were more negatively affected by information gathered from the internet and from medical staff than were Indonesian or Thai students.ConclusionsOur findings suggest that health care providers in Thailand may need to pay special attention to Thai university students given that high levels of anxiety were observed in this study population. In addition, health care providers should establish a good support system for university students, as the results of this study indicate a negative association between support and suicidal thoughts.

Highlights

The COVID-19 outbreak was declared as a pandemic on March 11, 2020, by the World Health Organization [1]
Our findings suggest that health care providers in Thailand may need to pay special attention to Thai university students given that high levels of anxiety were observed in this study population
Our results showed that Thai students had the highest levels of anxiety, the lowest levels of confidence in fighting COVID-19, and the least sufficient resources among the 3 student groups

Summary

Introduction

The COVID-19 outbreak was declared as a pandemic on March 11, 2020, by the World Health Organization [1]. It has affected over 100 countries worldwide, including many countries in the Asia-Pacific region. As of October 20, 2020, nearly 40 million confirmed cases of COVID-19 were reported globally, with over 9 million cases reported in the Asia-Pacific region [1]. With increasing numbers of COVID-19 infections and associated deaths, psychological responses toward COVID-19 have become an important topic for health care providers [4,5]. The importance of assessing psychological responses toward COVID-19 and their associated factors has been highlighted in the extant literature. The COVID-19 pandemic has negatively affected the mental health of university students

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Discussion

Conclusion