review · Frontiers in Public Health
A systematic review and meta-analysis examined the psychological effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on college and university students in Ethiopia. Looking across eight qualifying studies out of 227 reviewed, researchers determined the pooled prevalence of major mental health challenges. The analysis revealed that 43.49 percent of higher education students experienced depression, 46.27 percent suffered from anxiety, and 31.43 percent reported stress. Several factors significantly heightened this impact, including preexisting medical illnesses, residing in urban areas, living with parents, studying non-health disciplines, and having a relative die from the pandemic. The findings highlight the widespread mental health toll on student populations, prompting calls for resilience building, targeted epidemic response programmes by governments and institutions, and the deployment of tele-psychotherapy through social media platforms and smartphones.
Higher education students faced heavy psychological strain during the pandemic, with high rates of depression, anxiety, and stress. Identifying the scale of these issues and specific risk factors helps academic institutions and public health authorities direct mental health resources, craft supportive epidemic response policies, and address well-being concerns effectively.
The findings support the development and deployment of digital mental health services, such as tele-psychotherapy platforms and smartphone applications for university communities. Providers of digital wellbeing tools, universities, and healthcare agencies could use these prevalence metrics and risk profiles to target digital interventions, representing an early-stage evidence base that points toward applied digital health services.
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Background: The Corona virus disease 19 (COVID-19) pandemic is a human tragedy that occurred in this era. It poses an unprecedented psychological, social, economic, and health crisis. The mental health and well-being of entire societies are suffering as a result of this crisis, but the suffering is greater in students at all levels of education and must be addressed immediately. Thus, this study was aimed to estimate the pooled prevalence and associated factors of the psychological impact of COVID-19 among higher education students. Methods: test, and small-study effects were checked using Egger's statistical test. A random-effects model was employed to estimate the pooled prevalence of the psychological impact of COVID-19 and its associated factor. Results: After reviewing 227 studies, eight fulfilled the inclusion criteria and were included in the meta-analysis. The pooled prevalence of the psychological impact of Corona virus disease 19 among higher education students in Ethiopia, including depression, anxiety, and stress was 43.49% (95% CI: 29.59, 57.40%), 46.27% (95% CI: 32.77, 59.78%), and 31.43% (95% CI: 22.71, 40.15), respectively. Having a medical illness, being an urban resident, living with parents, having relative death due to pandemics, and having a non-health field of study were identified as significant associated factors for the impact of the pandemic in higher education students. Conclusion: The COVID-19 pandemic had a significant psychological impact on college and university students. Depression, anxiety, and stress were the most commonly reported psychological impacts across studies among higher education students. Hence, applying tele-psychotherapy using, smartphones, and social media platforms has an effect on reducing the impact. Programs for preventing and controlling epidemics should be developed by the government and higher education institutions that incorporate mental health interventions and build resilience.
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DOI: 10.3389/fpubh.2023.1136031
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