Prevalence of Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Among Undergraduate Students During Open and Distance Learning (ODL)

Abstract

The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared COVID-19 a pandemic after the outbreak became increasingly severe. The Malaysian government has taken various measures to reduce the spread of COVID-19 to protect Malaysians from the adverse effects of COVID-19 infection. One action taken by the Ministry of Higher Education Malaysia is to close all educational institutions that previously conducted face-to-face learning and replace it with open and distance learning (ODL). The unprecedented experience of ‘home quarantine’ has a wide range of effects on students’ mental health. This study aimed to assess depression, anxiety, and stress levels and examine the relationship between socio-demographic characteristics and the Depression and Anxiety Stress (DASS) subscale among undergraduate students. A cross-sectional survey of 258 undergraduate students in the public universities in Malaysia was conducted between October 2021 and January 2022 using convenience sampling techniques. The survey instrument used in this study was designed and adapted based on the Depression and Anxiety Stress scale-21 (DASS-21). An independent sample T-test and a One-Way ANOVA were used to investigate the association between these perspectives. The findings revealed that 30.2% had severe depression, 52.3% experienced very severe anxiety, and 36.4% experienced moderate stress among undergraduate students. Anxiety and stress showed significant differences between gender, age group, level of education, and place of residence compared with depression. Therefore, it is important to identify students with mental health issues to receive appropriate interventions. Further studies are needed to design intervention program strategies for this group of students.