Author:
Ghanim Mustafa,Rabayaa Maha,Atout Sameeha,Al-Othman Nihad,Alqub Malik
Abstract
Abstract
Background
Anxiety and depression are more common among university students than in the general population. It is reported internationally that the COVID-19 pandemic increased the prevalence of anxiety and depression among students. This study aimed to measure the prevalence of anxiety and depression among university students in Palestine and to explore the association between anxiety and depression during the COVID-19 pandemic. A cross-sectional questionnaire-based descriptive study was carried out on university students. The Generalized Anxiety Disorder Scale (GAD-7) and the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression (CES-D) scale were used to evaluate anxiety and depression, respectively. Chi-square was used to evaluate the risk factors associated with the levels of anxiety and depression. The association between anxiety and depression was evaluated using Pearson correlation.
Results
A total of 1049 students were enrolled in the study. The prevalence of depression among them was 55.8%, 26.4%, and 9.8% for severe, moderate, and mild depression, respectively. Depression symptoms were significantly variable based on students’ field and year of study, sleeping period, smoking, and food source. The prevalence of anxiety was 16.1%, 30.7%, and 36.1% for severe, moderate, and mild anxiety, respectively. Anxiety symptoms were significantly variable based on students’ gender, year of study, sleeping period, smoking, and place of residence. A strong positive correlation was observed between the CES-D and GAD-7 scores (R = 0.707).
Conclusion
Palestinian university students suffer from elevated levels of anxiety and depression during the COVID-19 pandemic. This necessitates the need for strategies by stakeholders to take immediate and appropriate interventions.
Publisher
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Subject
Psychiatry and Mental health
Reference36 articles.
1. Pandit R. Basic protective measures against the new coronavirus pandemic–COVID-19. J Manag Res Anal. 2020;7(1):1–2.
2. Wang Z-H, Yang H-L, Yang Y-Q, Liu D, Li Z-H, Zhang X-R et al (2020) Corrigendum to “prevalence of anxiety and depression symptom, and the demands for psychological knowledge and interventions in college students during COVID-19 epidemic: a large cross-sectional study”[275 (2020) 188–193]. J Affect Disord 276:1173
3. Hamdan A, Ghanim M, Mosleh R (2021) COVID-19 confinement and related well being measurement using the EQ-5D questionnaire: a survey among the Palestinian population. Int J Clin Pract 75(10):e14621
4. Al Zabadi H, Alhroub T, Yaseen N, Haj-Yahya M. Assessment of depression severity during coronavirus disease (2019) pandemic among the Palestinian population: a growing concern and an immediate consideration. Front Psych 2020:1486
5. Radwan A, Radwan E, Radwan W (2021) Eating habits among primary and secondary school students in the Gaza Strip, Palestine: a cross-sectional study during the COVID-19 pandemic. Appetite 163:105222
Cited by
5 articles.
订阅此论文施引文献
订阅此论文施引文献,注册后可以免费订阅5篇论文的施引文献,订阅后可以查看论文全部施引文献