University Students’ Mental Health and Well-Being during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Findings from the UniCoVac Qualitative Study

Abstract

The worldwide spread of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic in early 2020 affected all major sectors, including higher education. The measures to contain the spread of this deadly disease led to the closure of colleges and universities across the globe, disrupting the lives of millions of students and subjecting them to a new world of online learning. These sudden disturbances coupled with the demands of a new learning system and the experiences of living through a pandemic have placed additional strains on the mental health of university students. Research on university students’ mental health, conducted during the pandemic, have found high levels of stress, anxiety and depression among students. In this qualitative study, we aimed to understand how pandemic experiences have affected student well-being by conducting in-depth interviews with 34 undergraduate students enrolled in a UK university. All interviews were conducted through Microsoft Teams and recorded with prior permission. Transcripts of recorded interviews were thematically analysed which identified two broad themes: (i) University students’ mental health and well-being experiences during the pandemic; (ii) factors that influenced students’ mental health and well-being. These factors were further distributed across six sub-themes: (a) isolation; (b) health and well-being; (c) bereavement; (d) academic concerns; (e) financial worries and; (f) support, coping, and resilience. Our study identifies the importance of mental health support to university students during pandemics and calls for measures to improve access to support services through these crisis points by universities. Findings can also inform students’ mental health and risk assessments in the aftermath of the pandemic.

Impacts of Transitioning to an Online Curriculum at a Graduate School in South Korea Due to the COVID-19 Pandemic

“…For programs with limited support staff and budgets, careful preparation would be needed to tackle the technical and financial issues that will arise. Although a concern, the emergence of mental health issues in this study was similar to that found in several other recent studies, with slight differences in details depending on academic institution and region [ 14 , 17 , 18 , 19 , 20 , 21 ]. Interestingly, prior to such recent studies involving the influence of COVID-19 responses to the mental health of student bodies at academic institutions, much of the discussion focused on the benefits of online curricula.…”

“…The literature suggests Academic stakeholders are susceptible to impacts involving health, sociology, and achievement [ 14 , 15 , 16 , 17 , 18 , 19 , 20 , 21 , 31 , 32 , 33 , 34 , 35 ]. The generalization of Health as being the overall physical, mental, and emotional condition with regards to academic activities relevant to the individual.…”

“…The generalization of Sociological as being the interactions and relationships a student would be expected to have with their academic environment. The influence of finances would be categorized as a Sociological impact as it is not an issue that originates from the individual (i.e., [ 18 , 19 , 20 ]). The generalization of Achievement as being the results of general academic efforts, typically related to academic motivation and cognitive engagement.…”

“…There is a fair amount of literature on the integration and utilization of an online format in school curricula. Several studies describe a school’s sudden implementation of an online curriculum in response to crises and natural disasters, such as hurricanes [ 4 ], earthquakes [ 5 , 6 , 7 ], the 2002 Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, SARS outbreak [ 8 , 9 ], the 2015 Middle East Respiratory Syndrome, MERS outbreak [ 10 ], and the current COVID-19 pandemic [ 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 , 17 , 18 , 19 , 20 , 21 , 22 ]. Insights from these studies say a strong telecommunications and information technology infrastructure is needed to properly benefit from online learning technologies as well as a strong impact on students’ mental health from COVID-19 protocols.…”

“…This framework will be applied to course evaluation surveys, personal interviews, and relevant administrative work by the first author. One unique aspect of this study is that the telecommunications infrastructure in South Korea is well-developed and that virtually all graduate students were on a scholarship, thus minimizing telecommunications infrastructure and financial concerns from COVID-19 effects on academics and mental health respectively; relationships previous works had a hard time decoupling [ 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 , 18 , 19 , 20 , 29 , 30 ]. Hopefully, the results will add to an important database that monitors the experience of students and schools in their transition to online learning as well as valuable guidance on how to utilize online learning to better serve students and practitioners.…”