Psychosocial reactions of Pakistani Students towards COVID-19: A prevalence study

Keywords: Depression, Anxiety, COVID-19, Students

Abstract

Background: The current study aimed at investigating the manifestation and prevalence of the commonly reported psychosocial reactions in the university students following the onset of COVID-19 pandemic.

Methods: This cross-sectional survey was carried out during April to May, 2020 in the city of Lahore. Based on the interviews and presenting problems of thirty-nine self-referred students to student counselling service center, a list of twenty-seven self-report measure was presented through an online cross-sectional survey of 510 students enrolled in a private institute. The age range of the participants was between 17-26 years (M, 21.86; SD, 2.94).

Results: The results showed that the most frequently reported reactions by university students during COVID-19 is restricted daily routine (92%), preoccupation with cleanliness (86%), feeling uncertain about future (85%), feeling bored (84%) and low mood (84%). The least frequently reported reaction was financial crisis (48%). The findings further showed that 18% of the participants had mild, 34% had moderate, 29% severe and 19% very severe level of problems.

Conclusions: The finding revealed that university students have significantly affected by this pandemic which need attention from mental health professionals.

doi: https://doi.org/10.12669/pjms.37.2.3063

How to cite this:
Mahmood Z, Saleem S, Subhan S, Jabeen A. Psychosocial reactions of Pakistani Students towards COVID-19: A prevalence study. Pak J Med Sci. 2021;37(2):456-460. doi: https://doi.org/10.12669/pjms.37.2.3063

This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Author Biographies

Zahid Mahmood, University of Management and Technology Lahore, Pakistan

Professor 

PhD

Institute of Clinical Psychology,  University of Management and Technology, C-II  Johar Town, Lahore, Pakistan

Phone #: +923334693702

Sadia Saleem, University of Management and Technology Lahore, Pakistan

Associate Professor

PhD

Director Institute of Clinical Psychology,

Director IRB 

Institute of Clinical Psychology, University of Management and Technology, C-II  Johar Town, Lahore, Pakistan

Phone# +923314293560

Sara Subhan, University of Management and Technology Lahore, Pakistan

Assistant Professor 

Phd 

Institute of Clinical Psychology, University of Management and Technology C-II  Johar Town, Lahore, Pakistan

Phone# 03314475987

Ayesha Jabeen, University of Management and Technology Lahore

Assistant Professor

PhD Scholar 

Institute of Clinical Psychology,

University of Management and Technology

C-II, Johar Town, Lahore, Pakistan

Phone#+923364025510

Published
2021-02-03
How to Cite
Mahmood, Z., Saleem, S., Subhan, S., & Jabeen, A. (2021). Psychosocial reactions of Pakistani Students towards COVID-19: A prevalence study. Pakistan Journal of Medical Sciences, 37(2). https://doi.org/10.12669/pjms.37.2.3063
Section
Original Articles