Limited negative effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on mental health measures of Ghanaian university students

Mary Adjepong; Felicity Amoah-Agyei; Chen Du; Wenyan Wang; Jenifer I Fenton; Robin M Tucker

doi:10.1016/j.jadr.2021.100306

Limited negative effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on mental health measures of Ghanaian university students

J Affect Disord Rep. 2022 Jan:7:100306. doi: 10.1016/j.jadr.2021.100306. Epub 2022 Jan 5.

Authors

Mary Adjepong¹, Felicity Amoah-Agyei¹, Chen Du², Wenyan Wang², Jenifer I Fenton², Robin M Tucker²

Affiliations

¹ Department of Biochemistry and Biotechnology, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Private Mail Bag, Ghana.
² Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition, Michigan State University, 469 Wilson Rd., East Lansing, MI 48824, USA.

Abstract

Background: Stress and mental health outcomes are negatively correlated among university students throughout the world. Reports of differences in stress perception by gender exist, but there is limited data on students from sub-Saharan African countries. This study describes the burden of perceived and financial stress; characterizes mood and degree of anxiety symptoms; examines stress coping mechanisms, including resilience and repetitive negative thinking (RNT); and explores how students at a Ghanaian university believed the COVID-19 pandemic affected these measures.

Methods: Students (n = 129) were recruited from the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana from October 2020 - January 2021. Validated surveys were used. Participants were asked "Are your answers to the questions affected by the COVID-19 pandemic?"

Results: No differences in mean scores were observed between genders. For female students, financial stress was positively associated with RNT (p = 0.009), negative mood (p = 0.002), and anxiety (p < 0.001). Males were more likely to report decreased stress during the pandemic (p = 0.002), but there was no difference in mental health outcomes by perceived stress (PS) change category among males. Effects of the pandemic on mental health outcomes were mixed, but substantial proportions of students reported improvements or no change in financial stress, mood, anxiety, and RNT.

Limitations: Students from one university particiapted in this cross-sectional survey.

Conclusions: This study adds to the understanding of how higher education students are experiencing stress and are coping with the uncertainties of the COVID-19 pandemic in Ghana.

Keywords: ANOVA, analysis of variance; COVID-19; COVID-19, coronavirus disease 2019; Education; FDR, false discovery rate; GAD-7, Generalized Anxiety Disorder Screener; KNUST, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology; Mental health; PANAS, Positive and Negative Affect Schedule; PSS-10, Perceived Stress Scale-10; RNT, repetitive negative thinking; Stress; USFSA, University Student Financial Stress Assessment; Young adults.