IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/plo/pone00/0238162.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Depression and anxiety among university students during the COVID-19 pandemic in Bangladesh: A web-based cross-sectional survey

Author

Listed:
  • Md Akhtarul Islam
  • Sutapa Dey Barna
  • Hasin Raihan
  • Md Nafiul Alam Khan
  • Md Tanvir Hossain

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate the prevalence of depression and anxiety among Bangladeshi university students during the COVID-19 pandemic. It also aimed at identifying the determinants of depression and anxiety. A total of 476 university students living in Bangladesh participated in this cross-sectional web-based survey. A standardized e-questionnaire was generated using the Google Form, and the link was shared through social media—Facebook. The information was analyzed in three consecutive levels, such as univariate, bivariate, and multivariate analysis. Students were experiencing heightened depression and anxiety. Around 15% of the students reportedly had moderately severe depression, whereas 18.1% were severely suffering from anxiety. The binary logistic regression suggests that older students have greater depression (OR = 2.886, 95% CI = 0.961–8.669). It is also evident that students who provided private tuition in the pre-pandemic period had depression (OR = 1.199, 95% CI = 0.736–1.952). It is expected that both the government and universities could work together to fix the academic delays and financial problems to reduce depression and anxiety among university students.

Suggested Citation

  • Md Akhtarul Islam & Sutapa Dey Barna & Hasin Raihan & Md Nafiul Alam Khan & Md Tanvir Hossain, 2020. "Depression and anxiety among university students during the COVID-19 pandemic in Bangladesh: A web-based cross-sectional survey," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 15(8), pages 1-12, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:plo:pone00:0238162
    DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0238162
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0238162
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0238162&type=printable
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1371/journal.pone.0238162?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Anne-Laura van Harmelen & Jenny L Gibson & Michelle C St Clair & Matt Owens & Jeannette Brodbeck & Valerie Dunn & Gemma Lewis & Tim Croudace & Peter B Jones & Rogier A Kievit & Ian M Goodyer, 2016. "Friendships and Family Support Reduce Subsequent Depressive Symptoms in At-Risk Adolescents," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 11(5), pages 1-20, May.
    2. Pallegedara, Asankha & Mottaleb, Khondoker Abdul, 2018. "Patterns and determinants of private tutoring: The case of Bangladesh households," International Journal of Educational Development, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 43-50.
    3. Atanasov, Atanas & Marinova, Rumyana, 2020. "Интегрираното Отчитане Като Инструмент За Комуникиране На Корпоративна Информация В Условията На Covid-19 [Integrated reporting as a tool for communication of corporate information in the COVID-19 ," MPRA Paper 105256, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    4. Linn, M.W. & Sandifer, R. & Stein, S., 1985. "Effects of unemployment on mental and physical health," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 75(5), pages 502-506.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Samara Ahmed & Adil E. Rajput & Akila Sarirete & Asma Aljaberi & Ohoud Alghanem & Abrar Alsheraigi, 2020. "Studying Unemployment Effects on Mental Health: Social Media versus the Traditional Approach," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(19), pages 1-14, October.
    2. Manka Eunice Fuh & Brice Wilfried Obiang-Obounou*, 2019. "Overview of Migrant Women’s Health in South Korea: Policy Recommendations," The Journal of Social Sciences Research, Academic Research Publishing Group, vol. 5(3), pages 709-714, 03-2019.
    3. Beatty, Timothy K.M. & Ritter, Joseph A., 2018. "Measuring the Health Cost of Prolonged Unemployment: Evidence from the Great Recession," Miscellaneous Publications 280435, University of Minnesota, Department of Applied Economics.
    4. Jérôme Ronchetti & Anthony Terriau, 2019. "Impact of unemployment on self-perceived health," The European Journal of Health Economics, Springer;Deutsche Gesellschaft für Gesundheitsökonomie (DGGÖ), vol. 20(6), pages 879-889, August.
    5. Zhiya Hua & Dandan Ma, 2022. "Depression and Perceived Social Support among Unemployed Youths in China: Investigating the Roles of Emotion-Regulation Difficulties and Self-Efficacy," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(8), pages 1-15, April.
    6. Marc-Andre Pigeon & L. Randall Wray, "undated". "Down and Out in the United States, An Inside Look at the Out of the Labor Force Population," Economics Public Policy Brief Archive ppb_54, Levy Economics Institute.
    7. Mandikiana, Brian W., 2021. "Choice and expenditure: A double hurdle model of private tutoring in Qatar," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 71(C), pages 1-15.
    8. Akee, Randall & Zhao, Liqiu & Zhao, Zhong, 2019. "Unintended consequences of China's new labor contract law on unemployment and welfare loss of the workers," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 53(C), pages 87-105.
    9. David G. Blanchflower & Andrew J. Oswald, 2013. "Does High Home-Ownership Impair the Labor Market?," NBER Working Papers 19079, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    10. Nabi, Mahmoud Sami & Boughzala, Mongi, 2009. "Essai de chiffrage du coût social du chômage des jeunes diplômés en Tunisie [Social cost of young unemployed graduates in Tunisia]," MPRA Paper 84438, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    11. Beatty, Timothy K.M. & Ritter, Joseph A., 2018. "Measuring the Health Cost of Prolonged Unemployment: Evidence from the Great Recession," Staff Papers 280435, University of Minnesota, Department of Applied Economics.
    12. Claire L. Forrest & Jenny L. Gibson & Michelle C. St Clair, 2021. "Social Functioning as a Mediator between Developmental Language Disorder (DLD) and Emotional Problems in Adolescents," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(3), pages 1-17, January.
    13. Altman, Morris, 2014. "Insights from behavioral economics on how labor markets work," Working Paper Series 3466, Victoria University of Wellington, School of Economics and Finance.
    14. Akalbeo, Benard & Martinez-Vazquez, Jorge & Yedgenov, Bauyrzhan, 2023. "Fiscal decentralization and structural versus cyclical unemployment levels," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 80(C).
    15. Tanya Manchanda & Alan Stein & Mina Fazel, 2023. "Investigating the Role of Friendship Interventions on the Mental Health Outcomes of Adolescents: A Scoping Review of Range and a Systematic Review of Effectiveness," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(3), pages 1-24, January.
    16. Shaheen, Abeer M. & Hamdan, Khaldoun M. & Albqoor, Maha & Othman, Areej Khaleel & Amre, Huda M. & Hazeem, Mohammed Nabeel Abu, 2019. "Perceived social support from family and friends and bullying victimization among adolescents," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 107(C).
    17. Lyudmil Naydenov & Dimitar Tsenov, 2021. "Covid-19 Effects On Tax Gaps," Economic Archive, D. A. Tsenov Academy of Economics, Svishtov, Bulgaria, issue 1 Year 20, pages 15-27.
    18. Yoon, Dalhee & Yoon, Susan & Yoon, Miyoung & Knox, Peter N., 2023. "Gender differences in the role of peer relationship quality on psychological symptoms in youth at-risk for maltreatment," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 149(C).
    19. Catherine Pollak & Nicolas Sirven, 2011. "The social economy of ageing : Job quality and pathways beyond the labour market in Europe," Post-Print halshs-00639928, HAL.
    20. Mottaleb, Khondoker Abdul & Rahut, Dil Bahadur & Pallegedara, Asankha, 2019. "Spending privately for education in Nepal. Who spends more on it and why?," International Journal of Educational Development, Elsevier, vol. 69(C), pages 39-47.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:plo:pone00:0238162. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: plosone (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.