Research Paper
Limited negative effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on mental health measures of Ghanaian university students

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jadr.2021.100306Get rights and content
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Highlights

  • Perceived stress change during the pandemic was associated with gender.

  • Males were more likely to report decreased stress during the pandemic.

  • Pandemic effects on mental health varied, with improvements reported by some.

Abstract

Background

Stress and mental health outcomes are negatively correlated among university students throughout the world. Reports of differences in stress perception by gender exist, but there is limited data on students from sub-Saharan African countries. This study describes the burden of perceived and financial stress; characterizes mood and degree of anxiety symptoms; examines stress coping mechanisms, including resilience and repetitive negative thinking (RNT); and explores how students at a Ghanaian university believed the COVID-19 pandemic affected these measures.

Methods

Students (n = 129) were recruited from the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana from October 2020 - January 2021. Validated surveys were used. Participants were asked “Are your answers to the questions affected by the COVID-19 pandemic?”

Results

No differences in mean scores were observed between genders. For female students, financial stress was positively associated with RNT (p = 0.009), negative mood (p = 0.002), and anxiety (p < 0.001). Males were more likely to report decreased stress during the pandemic (p = 0.002), but there was no difference in mental health outcomes by perceived stress (PS) change category among males. Effects of the pandemic on mental health outcomes were mixed, but substantial proportions of students reported improvements or no change in financial stress, mood, anxiety, and RNT.

Limitations

Students from one university particiapted in this cross-sectional survey.

Conclusions

This study adds to the understanding of how higher education students are experiencing stress and are coping with the uncertainties of the COVID-19 pandemic in Ghana.

Keywords

Stress
Mental health
COVID-19
Education
Young adults

Abbreviations

ANOVA
analysis of variance
COVID-19
coronavirus disease 2019
FDR
false discovery rate
GAD-7
Generalized Anxiety Disorder Screener
KNUST
Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology
PANAS
Positive and Negative Affect Schedule
PSS-10
Perceived Stress Scale-10
RNT
repetitive negative thinking
USFSA
University Student Financial Stress Assessment

Cited by (0)

This work was supported by Michigan AgBioResearch (Robin M. Tucker). The funder had no input into the study design; collection, analysis and interpretation of data; in the writing of the manuscript; or in the decision to submit the article for publication.

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

All authors have approved the article.