Mental health of undergraduate distance learners: a cross-sectional study

Abstract

PurposeMental health is as important as physical health and new university entrants report high prevalence of depression. In open and distance learning (ODL), students must manage both work and studies. Those who are unable to effectively balance these aspects may experience negative outcomes such as dropping out, distress and physical health problems. Therefore, the study aims to investigate psychological distress amongst distance-learning undergraduate students to gather evidence for recommending necessary interventions.Design/methodology/approachA cross-sectional study was conducted using depression, anxiety, stress scale (DASS-21). Participants were undergraduate students from the Open University of Sri Lanka (OUSL). The students' socio-demographic details, history of physical and mental illnesses were also recorded.FindingsAccording to scoring, 51% of the sample was categorised as “psychologically distressed” relating to the anxiety levels they reported whilst depression (35%) and stress remained (20%) at low levels. The three-factor structure of DASS-21 was also confirmed with reliability scores of 0.8 obtained for all three sub-scales.Research limitations/implicationsThe limitations were low-response rate (less than 50%) and inability to provide causal explanations for psychological distress. Further research could address these.Practical implicationsThe current research identified anxiety as a psychologically distressing factor for ODL students with the use of a reliable screening tool. Therefore, exploring reasons and interventions to help reduce anxiety could be developed.Social implicationsMajority of distance learners are contributing to a country's economy whilst learning to improve their current socio-economic status. Therefore, addressing these negative impacts is important.Originality/valueThe study explored ODL students' psychological distress and highlighted the need to identify causes and development of support systems to enhance mental well-being.

Psychological disturbances encountered by selected undergraduates studying at the University of Ruhuna, Sri Lanka during the Covid-19 pandemic: a cross-sectional study

“…A study of medical students reported the reason for having higher stress among senior students might be due to the difficulty in making career choices, and opinions, and a lack of self-confidence in fitness for future clinical practice 69 . In contrast to the current findings, younger and distance learners in OUSL (e.g., Humanities and social sciences, Natural science, Engineering, Education and Health sciences faculties) had reported significantly higher levels of stress, anxiety, and depressive symptoms although they used 21-DASS scale like the current study 39 . However, only depressive symptoms had a significant impact by the academic year in the current study (p < 0.05).…”

“…Unlike the Western literature, a few researchers in Sri Lanka have been studying psychological problems and coping strategies encountered by undergraduates studying in some state and non-state universities. The distance-learning undergraduates at the Open University of Sri Lanka experienced nearly 51% psychological distress due to the distance mode of education while having low levels of anxiety and depression 39 . Some studies have reported psychological illbeing among undergraduates due to the combat of Covid-19 40 .…”

Impact of COVID-19 and emotional states of Filipino university students

“…For example, in previous studies in Vietnam [53], [54], Pakistan [55], Malaysia [56], and China [57], students tend to have moderate to extremely severe DASS symptoms. When compared to other studies conducted in Malaysia [37], Indonesia [37], [57], Thailand [37], [58], and Sri Lanka [59] students have a much lower level of DASS. Using the Mann-Whitney U test, it can be concluded that the DASS symptomatology as presented in Table 5 in both the working student groups and students' status groups (i.e., regular and irregular) was not statistically significant.…”

Opportunity for a Healthy Campus Program as a Sustainable Development Goal: Assessing Lifestyle Factor and Mental Health Status

“…The results of this study are in line with the results of research at universities in Bangladesh which states that mental health disorders include "psychological distress" relating to the anxiety levels they reported. At the same time, depression (35%) and stress remained (20%) (Gamage and Herath, 2021). Furthermore, mental health in categories No.…”