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

Heba Bakr Khoshaim,Ramesh Kumar,Zahid Memon,Syed Far Abid Hossain,Sheela Sundarasen,Mohammad Nurunnabi,Usha Rajagopalan,Areej Sukayt,Nevi Dalina,Karuthan Chinna,Kamilah Kamaludin,Gul Mohammad Baloch

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0253059

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.

Highlights

COVID-19, the defining global health crisis of this millennium was first reported in Wuhan, China in December 2019
The purpose of this study is to examine and compare the socio-psychological wellbeing and the coping strategies used by university students during the period of COVID-19 pandemic in seven selected countries; India, Bangladesh, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Indonesia, China and Malaysia
Most students from Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, India and Indonesia stayed in their family homes

Summary

Introduction

COVID-19, the defining global health crisis of this millennium was first reported in Wuhan, China in December 2019. At the time of writing, a total of 235 countries have been identified with COVID-19 cases, exceeding a total of 35 million people world-wide and a total death of more than one million. Governments across the world have been forced to limit public movement with extreme measures such as quarantines, lockdowns, social isolation, and restriction of movement in a bid to combat the spread of this deadly disease. As other public health emergencies, COVID-19 pandemic affect one’s psychological state in the short-term and mental health in the long-term [4]

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