Contribution of researchers in the Arab region to peer-reviewed literature on mental health and well-being of university students

Abstract

Objective The current study aimed at investigating the contribution of researchers in the Arab region to the field of mental health and well-being of university students using bibliometric tools. Method Relevant literature was obtained from the Scopus database for the period from 2001–2020. Examples of keywords used in the query included “college student”, “university student”, and undergraduate student” combined with keywords such as wellbeing, wellness, suicide, and anxiety. No language restriction was used. Only research articles were considered. The search query was validated. Bibliometric indicators and mappings such as active countries, institutions, authors, highly cited documents, and the most frequently encountered topics were identified and discussed to shed light on research gaps in the Arab region. Research gaps were also identified. The analysis was carried out on February 12, 2021. Results The search query returned 309 research articles published by authors from 17 different Arab countries. Less than one-third (n = 97, 31.4%) of the retrieved articles were carried out in collaboration with authors from 39 non-Arab countries, mainly from the United Kingdom and the United States. The overall contribution of researchers from the Arab region to global research in the field was 5.6%. In total, 1212 authors from 791 different institutions participated in publishing the retrieved research articles. At the country level, Saudi Arabia (n = 125, 40.5%) ranked first, followed by Jordan, Egypt, and Lebanon. At the institutional level, The University of Jordan (n = 25, 8.1%) ranked first, followed by King Saud University, and Kuwait University. The retrieved articles included 132 (42.7%) articles on stress/distress, 95 (30.7%) on anxiety, 61 (19.7%) on depression. Knowledge gaps on suicide, eating disorders, substance use, and happiness were identified. The retrieved articles appeared in 193 different journals and approximately two-thirds of the active journal were in general medicine, public health, and education. Conclusions The contribution of researchers in the Arab region to the field showed a noticeable increase with time. However, important research gaps were identified. The contribution was confined to authors from a limited number of Arab countries. Funding and international research collaboration for the mental health and well-being of students need to be strengthened.

Thanks for Asking! How UAE-Based University Students Conceptualize Happiness and How Institutions Can Improve It

“…Further, the wellbeing of young people has often been overlooked as institutions do not consider it their concern [36]. In the UAE, young people are often "Third Culture Kids"; that is, not a product of their parent's home country (i.e., in some cases parents come from two separate countries, in which the young person has spent no time), and not belonging to the UAE national culture either, making needs for attachment and belonging salient.…”

Arab Universities: Problems, COVID-19 andEfforts

“…University students represent a powerful human asset for development in the Arab region (Sweileh, 2021).…”

Global research trends on the links between the gut microbiome and cancer: a visualization analysis

“…This is hypothesized and expected to be in progress, as shown in other microbiota science, such as trends in the research field of the gut microbiota [10], intestinal microbiota in obesity [11,12], microbiome-gut-brain axis [13], gut microbiota and depression [14], microbiota of diabetes research [15], and fecal microbiota transplantation [16]. In addition, bibliometric research has recently been published in various scientific disciplines [17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25]. Bibliometric analysis differs from systematic reviews in which systematic reviews attempt to answer a specific research question based on a small number of publications [26][27][28].…”