<p>Mental Distress and Associated Factors Among Undergraduate Engineering Students of Hawassa University, Ethiopia</p>

Abstract

Background: Mental distress is a range of symptoms and experiences of a person's internal life that are commonly held to be troubling, confusing or out of the ordinary. Mental distress often interferes with studying, social interaction, and academic outcomes. Therefore, this study aimed at assessing the prevalence of mental distress and factors associated with it among undergraduate engineering students at Hawassa University. Methods: We conducted an institution-based cross-sectional descriptive study on undergraduate engineering students at Hawassa University. We collected the data from January to April 30, 2018, using interviewer-administered Self-Report Questionnaire 20 (SRQ-20) from 341 participants selected by stratified sampling and we performed multiple logistic regression analysis to find factors associated with mental distress. Results: Out of the total study population, 222 (65.1%) were males, and 172 (50.4%) were age ≥21. We found the prevalence of mental distress using SRQ-20 with a cutoff point ≥8 to be 28.7%. Female students were 2.9 times more likely to have mental distress as compared to male students (AOR= 2.90, 95% CI: 1.52-5.50). Facing financial problem (AOR= 2.20; CI = 1.25-3.85), poor social support (AOR= 2.58, 95% CI: 1.51-4.42), lack of interest in their field of study (AOR=2.57; CI: 1.23-5.38) and unresolved conflict with roommate (AOR= 2.29, 95% CI: 1.08-4.00) were significant predictors of mental distress. Conclusion: This study showed a high prevalence of mental distress among engineering students. So, policymakers, university officials, and parents need to give due attention to engineering undergraduate students for proactive measures.

Magnitude of Mental Distress and its Determinants Among Medical and Health Science Regular Undergraduate Students at Jimma University: Institutional Based Cross-Sectional Study

“…This study also found that mental distress associated with religious practice, even though most literature didn't consider religion as a variable. Students who were involved in the religious program, irrespective of what religion they follow, were less likely to develop mental distress, and consistent with studies done in Ethiopia (15,29). This might be because of religious teachings and doctrines helps students with stress management.…”

Prevalence and associated factors of depression among Jimma University students. A cross-sectional study

“…The level of Social support of the respondents was measured by Oslo 3-items social support scale. The tool was validated and has been used in previous studies in Ethiopia [58][59][60]. In this study, the tool had Cronbach's α score of 0.91.…”

Stress and Sleep Quality among Engineering Students

“…These stressors and challenges may impair their learning capacity and academic achievement (Balaji et al, 2019;Gedam et al, 2020;Sridar, 2018). Academic factors (Bisai & Chaudhary, 2017;Gedam et al, 2020;Navarro-Martínez et al, 2020;Reddy et al, 2018;Sridar, 2018) and financial problems (Othman & Rashid, 2018;Negi et al, 2019;Reta et al, 2020;Gedam et al, 2020) have been identified to be the most frequent sources of stress for university students. Other than these common stressors, environmental factors, interpersonal relationships (Balaji et al, 2019), financial management issues, shifts in the living environment such as staying away from family, and challenges balancing personal and academic life also causes stress to university students (Navarro-Martínez et al, 2020;Reddy et al, 2018).…”