Knowledge, Anxiety, Fear, and Psychological Distress About COVID-19 Among University Students in the United Arab Emirates

Abstract

Background: Fear of infection, the epidemic situation, unexpected lockdown, and implementation of online classes are most likely affecting the psychological well-being of students during the COVID-19 pandemic. Therefore, this study aims to assess the level of knowledge, anxiety, and psychological distress concerning COVID-19 and their association with fear, gender, age, history of mental illness, time spent reading about COVID-19, program of study, and type of dwelling among students in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Methods and Materials: In this cross-sectional study, 433 students participated in a web-based survey. These were students at the University of Sharjah, coming from all the emirates of the UAE. Demographic scale, COVID-19 knowledge, anxiety, fear, and psychological distress scales were used to screen these problems. Results: Of the 433 students, 278 (64.2%) were male and 155 (35.8%) were female. Overall, 353 (81.5%) exhibited adequate knowledge of COVID-19. Sixty-nine (15.9%) of students were anxious and 221 (51%) were in psychological distress. Students who exhibited anxiety concerning COVID-19 anxiety (odds ratio [OR]: 2.98) and fear (OR: 1.27), and who spent more than 4 h reading about COVID-19 (OR: 11.20) were more psychologically distressed. Students with a history of mental illness showed adequate knowledge of COVID-19; however, they were more psychologically distressed (OR: 5.93). Older students were less likely to have psychological distress (OR: 0.87). Conclusion: Students possess adequate knowledge concerning COVID-19; however, they are psychologically distressed. Age, dwelling status, history of mental illness, anxiety, and fear significantly predicted psychological distress. Frequent web-based workshops that include insight, guidance, online counseling, scheduled activity, and coping mechanisms for COVID-19 are highly recommended. The authors discuss the implications for future research and provide recommendations for students and educational institutions.

COVID-19: The Level of Knowledge, Anxiety and Symptom Presentation

“…This hypothesis could be supported by the aforementioned study conducted by Saravanan et al 16 and the “infodemic”. There are also researches conducted upon physicians.…”

“…Sahu et al 15 referred to the problem as an “infodemic” and pointed out that the evergrowing usage of social media platforms are amplifying the problem. A study by Saravanan et al 16 stated students who exhibited anxiety concerning COVID-19 anxiety and fear, and who spent more than 4 hours reading about COVID-19 were more psychologically distressed. Above all, people who were diagnosed with obsessive-compulsive disorder, borderline personality disorder, and narcissistic personality disorder may experience severe anxiety, fear, helplessness, desperation, hopelessness, feeling of worthlessness, and even psychosis.…”

Do fear of COVID-19 and religious coping predict depression, anxiety, and stress among the Arab population during health crisis?

“…During COVID-19 pandemic, there were substantial increases in the levels of anxiety and depression, substance use, loneliness, domestic violence, and child abuse and maltreatment (Galea et al, 2020). A number of studies examined the impact of COVID-19 on mental health of population of Arab as well as the prevalence of mental health problems (Saravanan et al, 2020). Alkhamees et al (2020) reported that nearly 24% of general population of Saudi Arabia reported moderate or severe psychological impact of the outbreak with 28.3%, 24%, and 22.3% of the population respectively reported moderate to severe depressive, anxiety, and stress symptoms.…”

Editorial: Psychological Distress Among University Students

“…Lukács ( 2021 ) evidenced that university students experienced significant negative changes after the first month of isolation regarding physical activity, relationship with family and friends, financial situation, perceived health, and perspective for the future. Morever, age, housing conditions, previous history of mental issues, anxiety, and fear significantly predicted psychological distress (Saravanan et al, 2020 ). Moreover, stress related to academics (e.g., personal uncertainties about academic program, distance teaching), health, and lack of social support predicted more negative mental health impacts (Lai et al, 2020 ).…”