Predictors of Severe Anxiety Among Bumiputera Students
Abstract
Despite widespread vaccination efforts, ongoing Covid-19 pandemic continues to affect population globally. In mitigating and exerting control over the spread of the virus, a variety of measures have been carried out by countries worldwide. As a result, this has detrimental effects on citizens’ mental health. University students are particularly among those significantly affected where they face challenges stemming from the pandemic and academic pressures. The purpose of this study was to explore anxiety along with the contributing factors of anxiety itself specifically among the students of Bumiputera at public university. The survey, conducted through a Google Docs Form, was distributed online from 13 Aug to 12 Sep 2021. Descriptive analysis was employed in assessing the anxiety levels of the Bumiputera students. To identify academic features, psychosocial attributes, Covid-19-related factors, socio-demographic characteristics, challenges in open and distance learning (ODL), previously achieved academic performance, current academic performance, and overall satisfaction with ODL that exhibit significant associations with anxiety, an independent-sample t-test or a one-way analysis of variance (one-way ANOVA) was performed. Finally, in identifying protective and risk factors related to anxiety among significant socio-demographic characteristics, ODL challenges, academic characteristics, psychosocial characteristics, COVID-19-related factors and overall satisfaction towards ODL, multinomial logistic regression was conducted. Gender, sharing laptops/computers, difficulties in catching up with tough online courses, depressive thoughts and experience of quarantined because of close contact with positive COVID-19 individuals were identified as protective factors against anxiety symptoms while field of study and overall satisfaction towards ODL were risk factors of developing severe anxiety.
Downloads
References
Abdul Hamid, H. & Khalidi, J. R. (2020). COVID-19 and Unequal Learning. www.KRInstitute.org.
Ayittey, F. K., Ayittey, M. K., Chiwero, N. B., Kamasah, J. S. & Dzuvor, C. (2020). Economic impacts of Wuhan 2019?nCoV in China and the world. Journal of Medical Virology, 92(5), 473. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/jmv.25706
Bahar Moni, A. S., Abdullah, S., Bin Abdullah, M. F. I. L., Kabir, M. S., Alif, S. M., Sultana, F. & Rahman, M. A. (2021). Psychological distress, fear and coping among Malaysians during the COVID-19 pandemic. PloS one, 16(9), e0257304. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0257304
BERNAMA. (2020, February 4). First Case of Malaysian Positive for Coronavirus. BERNAMA. https://www.bernama.com/en/general/news_covid-19.php?id=1811373
Brooks, S. K., Webster, R. K., Smith, L. E., Woodland, L., Wessely, S., Greenberg, N. & Rubin, G. J. (2020). The psychological impact of quarantine and how to reduce it: a rapid review of the evidence. The Lancet, 395(10227), 912-920. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(20)30460-8
Burkova, V. N., Butovskaya, M. L., Randall, A. K., Fedenok, J. N., Ahmadi, K., Alghraibeh, A. M. & Zinurova, R. I. (2021). Predictors of anxiety in the COVID-19 pandemic from a global perspective: Data from 23 countries. Sustainability, 13(7), 4017. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/su13074017
Cao, W., Fang, Z., Hou, G., Han, M., Xu, X., Dong, J. & Zheng, J. (2020). The psychological impact of the COVID-19 epidemic on college students in China. Psychiatry research, 287, 112934. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychres.2020.112934
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). (n.d.). Retrieved May 28, 2020, from https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/community/colleges
Chandrasiri, N. R. & Weerakoon, B. S. (2022). Online learning during the COVID-19 pandemic: Perceptions of allied health sciences undergraduates. Radiography, 28(2), 545-549. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.radi.2021.11.008
Chaudhary, A. P., Sonar, N. S., Jamuna, T. R., Banerjee, M. & Yadav, S. (2021). Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the mental health of college students in India: cross-sectional web-based study. JMIRx med, 2(3), e28158. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2196/28158
Dhawan, S. (2020). Online learning: A panacea in the time of COVID-19 crisis. Journal of educational technology systems, 49(1), 5-22. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0047239520934018
Germani, A., Buratta, L., Delvecchio, E., Gizzi, G. & Mazzeschi, C. (2020). Anxiety severity, perceived risk of COVID-19 and individual functioning in emerging adults facing the pandemic. Frontiers in Psychology, 11, 567505. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.567505
Grubic, N., Badovinac, S. & Johri, A. M. (2020). The psychological impact of the COVID-19 epidemic on college students in China. International Journal of Social Psychiatry, 66(5), 287. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0020764020925108
Heckel, C. & Ringeisen, T. (2019). Pride and anxiety in online learning environments: Achievement emotions as mediators between learners' characteristics and learning outcomes. Journal of Computer Assisted Learning, 35(5), 667-677. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/jcal.12367
Islam, M. A., Barna, S. D., Raihan, H., Khan, M. N. A. & Hossain, M. T. (2020). Depression and anxiety among university students during the COVID-19 pandemic in Bangladesh: A web-based cross-sectional survey. PloS one, 15(8), e0238162. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0238162
Junus, K., Santoso, H. B., Putra, P. O. H., Gandhi, A. & Siswantining, T. (2021). Lecturer readiness for online classes during the pandemic: A survey research. Education Sciences, 11(3), 139. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci11030139
Lim, L. L. (2020). The socioeconomic impacts of COVID-19 in Malaysia: Policy review and guidance for protecting the most vulnerable and supporting enterprises. International Labor Organization, 1-99.
Mertens, G., Gerritsen, L., Duijndam, S., Salemink, E. & Engelhard, I. M. (2020). Fear of the coronavirus (COVID-19): Predictors in an online study conducted in March 2020. Journal of anxiety disorders, 74, 102258. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.janxdis.2020.102258
Ministry of Health Malaysia. (2022, March 22). COVID-19 Cases in Malaysia. COVID-19 Immunization Task Force.
Nur Salina, I., Mazlina, N., Bakar, A. & Sharifah Wajihah Wafa, S. S. T. W. (2020). Online learning challenges during the pandemic COVID-19 in Malaysian higher learning institutions. Universal Journal of Educational Research, 8(12), 7151-7159. DOI: https://doi.org/10.13189/ujer.2020.081282
Odriozola-González, P., Planchuelo-Gómez, Á., Irurtia, M. J. & de Luis-García, R. (2020). Psychological effects of the COVID-19 outbreak and lockdown among students and workers of a Spanish university. Psychiatry research, 290, 113108. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychres.2020.113108
Peng, L., Zhang, J., Li, M., Li, P., Zhang, Y., Zuo, X. & Xu, Y. (2012). Negative life events and mental health of Chinese medical students: the effect of resilience, personality and social support. Psychiatry research, 196(1), 138-141. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychres.2011.12.006
Petzold, M. B., Bendau, A., Plag, J., Pyrkosch, L., Mascarell Maricic, L., Betzler, F. & Ströhle, A. (2020). Risk, resilience, psychological distress, and anxiety at the beginning of the COVID?19 pandemic in Germany. Brain and behavior, 10(9), e01745. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/brb3.1745
Pietrabissa, G. & Simpson, S. G. (2020). Psychological consequences of social isolation during COVID-19 outbreak. Frontiers in Psychology, 11, 2201. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.02201
Rampal, L. & Liew, B. S. (2021). Malaysia's third COVID-19 wave a paradigm shift required. The Medical Journal of Malaysia, 76(1), 1-4.
Rubin, G. J. & Wessely, S. (2020). The psychological effects of quarantining a city. Bmj, 368. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.m313
Saadé, R. G., Kira, D., Mak, T. & Nebebe, F. (2017, June). Anxiety & performance in online learning. In I n SITE 2017: Informing Science+ IT Education Conferences: Vietnam, 147-157.
Saadé, R. G., Nebebe, F. & Kira, D. (2015, June). Characterizing Computer Experience and Anxieties Differences Between Middle Eastern and Western Students in eLearning. In I n SITE 2015: Informing Science+ IT Education Conferences: USA, 353-365.
Shanmugam, H., Juhari, J. A., Nair, P., Ken, C. S. & Guan, N. C. (2020). Impacts of COVID-19 pandemic on mental health in Malaysia: a single thread of hope. Malaysian Journal of Psychiatry, 29(1), 78-84.
Sia, J. K. M. & Adamu, A. A. (2020). Facing the unknown: pandemic and higher education in Malaysia. Asian Education and Development Studies, 10(2), 263-275. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/AEDS-05-2020-0114
Son, C., Hegde, S., Smith, A., Wang, X. & Sasangohar, F. (2020). Effects of COVID-19 on college students’ mental health in the United States: Interview survey study. Journal of medical Internet research, 22(9), e21279. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2196/21279
Spitzer, R. L., Kroenke, K., Williams, J. B. & Löwe, B. (2006). A brief measure for assessing generalized anxiety disorder: the GAD-7. Archives of internal medicine, 166(10), 1092-1097. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1001/archinte.166.10.1092
Sundarasen, S., Chinna, K., Kamaludin, K., Nurunnabi, M., Baloch, G. M., Khoshaim, H. B. & Sukayt, A. (2020). Psychological impact of COVID-19 and lockdown among university students in Malaysia: Implications and policy recommendations. International journal of environmental research and public health, 17(17), 6206. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17176206
Szumilas, M. (2010). Explaining odds ratios. Journal of the Canadian academy of child and adolescent psychiatry, 19(3), 227.
Tabachnick, B. G. & Fidell, L. S. (2014). Using multivariate statistics. Harlow. Essex: Pearson Education Limited.
Times, N. S. (2020). Coronavirus cases confirmed in Johor Baru. New Straits Times.
Wang, C., Pan, R., Wan, X., Tan, Y., Xu, L., McIntyre, R. S. & Ho, C. (2020). A longitudinal study on the mental health of the general population during the COVID-19 epidemic in China. Brain, behavior, and immunity, 87, 40-48. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bbi.2020.04.028
Wang, G., Zhang, Y., Zhao, J., Zhang, J. & Jiang, F. (2020). Mitigate the effects of home confinement on children during the COVID-19 outbreak. The Lancet, 395(10228), 945-947. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(20)30547-X
Wikimedia Foundation. (2021, September 9). Quota sampling. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quota_sampling
Xiao, H., Zhang, Y., Kong, D., Li, S. & Yang, N. (2020). The effects of social support on sleep quality of medical staff treating patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in January and February 2020 in China. Medical Science Monitor: International Medical Journal of Experimental and Clinical Research, 26, e923549-1. DOI: https://doi.org/10.12659/MSM.923549
Copyright (c) 2024 SITI FAIRUS BINTI FUZI, Siti Ramizah Jama, Nordianah Jusoh, Siti Nursyahira Zainudin, Bushra Abdul Halim, Nurul Emyza Zahidi, Wan Hartini Wan Hassan
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Author (s) should affirm that the material has not been published previously. It has not been submitted and it is not under consideration by any other journal. At the same time author (s) need to execute a publication permission agreement to assume the responsibility of the submitted content and any omissions and errors therein. After submission of revised paper in the light of suggestions of the reviewers, the editorial team edits and formats manuscripts to bring uniformity and standardization in published material.
This work will be licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) and under condition of the license, users are free to read, copy, remix, transform, redistribute, download, print, search or link to the full texts of articles and even build upon their work as long as they credit the author for the original work. Moreover, as per journal policy author (s) hold and retain copyrights without any restrictions.
