Coping with COVID-19 and movement control order (MCO): experiences of university students in Malaysia

Abstract

This study examined how university students in Malaysia coped with the psychological impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and restrictions on movement (also known as MCO). A total of 983 students participated in a survey conducted online between April 20 and May 24, 2020. The psychological impact was measured using Zung's Self-Rating Anxiety Scale (SAS). The students were assessed on the usage of adaptive (humanitarian and seeking social support) and maladaptive coping strategies (acceptance and mental disengagement). The results showed that the students used maladaptive coping strategies more than adaptive coping strategies to deal with anxiety caused by the pandemic and the effect of restriction of movement. Seeking social support and acceptance coping strategies were significantly associated with the level of anxiety. The student's gender, age, ethnicity, level and type of study, and living arrangement were associated with coping strategies. The students' selection of coping strategies mirrors typical Asian culture, that is, submissiveness. The study proposes several practical and professional suggestions to address students' mental health issues.

Depression, anxiety, and the COVID-19 pandemic: Severity of symptoms and associated factors among university students after the end of the movement lockdown

“…However, when we compared the rate of occurrence of depression, anxiety, and stress symptoms in our cohort of university students with that of another cohort of Malaysian university students in a non-pandemic setting with a relatively lower sample size ( n = 91), which used the same screening instrument (DASS-21; mild depression = 14.3%, moderate depression = 19.8%, severe depression = 8.8%, extremely severe depression = 2.2%; mild anxiety = 25.3%, moderate anxiety = 28.7%, severe anxiety = 11.0%, extremely severe anxiety = 11.0%; mild stress = 19.8%, moderate stress = 11.0%, severe stress = 3.3%, extremely severe stress = 0%) [ 19 ], the rate of depression was comparable, the rate of anxiety was proportionately lower, and the rate of stress was proportionately higher in our study. The rate of occurrence of anxiety symptoms in other studies of Malaysian university students during the COVID-19 pandemic varied from 29.8% to 87.7% [ 12 , 20 , 21 ]; these discrepancies in the occurrence of anxiety symptoms between our study and other studies of Malaysian university students may be due to methodological differences and different screening tools used. (Our study utilized DASS-21, while other studies used Zung’s Self-Rating Anxiety Scale and the 7-item Generalized Anxiety Disorder Scale).…”

“…Despite its limitations, our study gave some new insights regarding the psychological impact of the COVID-19 pandemic among university students. First, there were a few COVID-19 related stressors that have not been evaluated in other studies of the psychological impact of COVID-19 among university students [ 4 – 12 , 18 , 20 , 21 , 34 ], such as the perception that religion helped to cope with stress during COVID-19, history of being in quarantine because of exposure to COVID-19-positive cases, and the perception that COVID-19-positive cases were highly prevalent around the area of residence. However, these factors turned out not to be associated with the levels of depressive and anxiety symptoms in our study.…”

“…However, these factors turned out not to be associated with the levels of depressive and anxiety symptoms in our study. Second, clinical factors, such as having pre-existing medical illnesses, depressive, and anxiety disorders, were not assessed in other studies of psychological impact of COVID-19 among university students [ 4 – 12 , 18 , 20 , 21 , 34 ]. Our findings indicated that these two clinical factors were predictive of higher severity of depressive and anxiety symptoms among university students during COVID-19.…”

Mental Health and Well-Being during the Covid-19 Pandemic in Higher Education: Evidence from G20 Countries

“… 9 Furthermore, several types of online health services have been employed broadly for those in need during the outbreak. Digital health for mental health has recently become significant in meeting the demands of individuals facing anxiety and depression in quarantine, 20 , 21 with social and physical distancing constraints, and a lack of in-person care. Liu et al 22 state that China has prepared “online mental health education with communication programmes” and these applications have been extensively used during the outbreak for medical staff and the public.…”

The difference in views of educators and students on Forced Online Distance Education can lead to unintentional side effects

“…These coping strategies reflect various personal, cultural and environmental factors; however, it is too early to generalize. Among the published studies on students' coping strategies, Kamaludin et al (2020) report that students in Malaysia "used maladaptive coping strategies (acceptance and mental disengagement) more than adaptive coping strategies (humanitarian and seeking social support)", and Rogowska et al (2020) reported that "university students experience extremely high stress and anxiety during quarantine period". Various studies explored students' and/ or educators' attitudes or views towards online education (Dilmaç, 2020;Flores & Gago, 2020;Hebebci et al, 2020;Sepulveda-Escobar & Morrison, 2020), but we found no serious studies comparing the open-ended opinions of students and educators towards online education.…”