Response Actions of Malaysian Universities and Colleges in Managing Student Mental Health: A Systematic Review

Yulia, Astri; Fong, Angela Chan Nguk; Ali, Affezah; Subramaniam, Hema; Amiruddin, Saturia

doi:10.1007/s42413-021-00132-8

Cited by 3 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 25 publications

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“…Besides, most informants strongly believed that mental illness has long-term detrimental consequences, whereas only a minority argued that mentally ill people might live normally if they receive appropriate treatments. Although there is no cure for most types of mental illness, effective treatments and social support can alleviate symptoms and keep the disease under-control, allowing people with mental illness to live a normal life (28). Thus, it is essential to educate students about available mental health services so that they will utilise them as needed.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Perceptions and Beliefs Towards Mental Health and Mental Illness: A Qualitative Study among University Students in Malaysia

Soo,

Wong,

Ong

et al. 2024

MJMHS

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Introduction: University students’ perspectives on mental health issues remain scarce despite the growing prevalence of mental illness among this population. Therefore, this study aimed to explore university students’ perceptions and beliefs about mental health and mental illness. Methods: Virtual in-depth interviews were conducted from December 2021 to March 2022. All interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed verbatim and analysed using thematic analysis. Results: Sixteen informants from a Malaysian university were interviewed. Four major themes emerged: (1) understanding of mental health and mental illness; (2) perceived causes of mental illness; (3) attitudes towards mental illness; (4) strategies to maintain good mental health. Most informants related mental health to an individual’s thoughts, emotions and behaviours, while a minority equated ‘mental health’ with ‘mental illness’. The majority of informants cited socio-environmental factors as the primary cause of mental illness. Unexpectedly, informants did not view religious factors as a cause of mental illness, although it was thought to be deeply rooted in the older generation. Nearly all informants expressed positive attitudes and willingness to help people with mental illness. However, some informants decided to cover up their mental health problems to avoid the likelihood of experiencing negative emotions. Most informants believed that living a fulfilling and balanced life, staying optimistic and being religious could help them to maintain good mental health. Conclusion: To mitigate the deterioration of students’ mental health, it is necessary to understand their perceptions and beliefs about mental health and mental illness as these may influence their help-seeking behaviours. The study findings showed that university students have a basic understanding of mental health and mental illness and most of them are supportive in handling people with mental illness.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Perceptions and Beliefs Towards Mental Health and Mental Illness: A Qualitative Study among University Students in Malaysia

Soo,

Wong,

Ong

et al. 2024

MJMHS

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…This review study presents evidence regarding the effectiveness of MMM in improving the mental health problems of university students. With the serious mental health status of university students [2], this provides a new idea and a method to improve such symptoms. At the same time, it also provides some reference for the MMM research field to improve mental health.…”

Section: Relevance For Clinical Practicementioning

confidence: 99%

“…According to the World Health Organization (WHO), mental health is "a state of well-being in which the individual realizes his or her own abilities, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively and fruitfully, and is able to make a contribution to his or her community" [1]. More than 50% of university students have mental health problems [2], such as stress, anxiety, or depression [3]. Common factors associated with mental health problems are age, specifically around 18 years [4]; distance from parents and friends [5]; class learning-extracurricular activity balance [6]; and economic situation [7].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of Mobile Mindfulness Meditation on the Mental Health of University Students: Systematic Review and Meta-analysis

Chen¹,

Yang²,

Xiao³

et al. 2023

J Med Internet Res

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Background Mobile mindfulness meditation (MMM) is a mindfulness meditation intervention implemented using mobile devices such as smartphones and apps. MMM has been used to help manage the mental health of university students. Objective This study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of MMM on the mental health of university students in the areas of stress, anxiety, depression, mindfulness, well-being, and resilience. Methods We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of the effectiveness of MMM on the mental health of university students. This study followed the PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) guidelines. An electronic literature search was performed on PubMed, Web of Science, EBSCO, Cochrane Library, and Embase databases, from inception to July 16, 2021. This study was conducted to identify studies that reported the effects of MMM on the primary outcomes including stress, anxiety, and depression, and on the secondary outcomes including mindfulness, well-being, and resilience. Two reviewers retrieved articles, evaluated quality, and extracted data independently. The methodological quality of the selected studies was determined using the Cochrane criteria for risk-of-bias assessment. Standardized mean differences (SMDs) for continuous outcomes and risk ratios for dichotomous outcomes were calculated. Sensitivity analyses and subgroup analyses were performed for results with high heterogeneity. The RevMan version 5.3 was used to perform meta-analysis. Results A total of 10 studies, including 958 university students, were selected for this meta-analysis. Results of the primary outcome showed that the MMM groups were more effective than the control groups in decreasing stress (SMD –0.41, 95% CI –0.59 to –0.23; P<.001) and alleviating anxiety (SMD –0.29, 95% CI –0.50 to –0.09; P=.004). However, there was no difference between the MMM groups and the control groups in depression (SMD –0.14, 95% CI –0.30 to 0.03; P=.11). The use of either waitlist control or traditional face-to-face intervention in the control group was identified as the source of heterogeneity. Specifically, the waitlist control subgroup (SMD –0.33, 95% CI –0.53 to –0.13; P=.002) was superior when compared with the face-to-face subgroup (SMD 0.29, 95% CI –0.01 to 0.59; P=.06). Results of the secondary outcome showed that the MMM groups were more effective than the control groups in enhancing well-being (SMD 0.30, 95% CI 0.11-0.50; P=.003) and improving mindfulness (SMD 2.66, 95% CI 0.77-4.55; P=.006). Whether commercial sponsorship was obtained was considered as the source of heterogeneity. The “without company support” group (SMD 17.60, 95% CI 11.32-23.87; P<.001) was superior to the “with company support” group (SMD 1.17, 95% CI –0.82 to 3.15; P=.25) in raising the level of mindfulness. However, there was no difference between the MMM and control groups in resilience (SMD –0.06, 95% CI –0.26 to 0.15; P=.59). The evidence level of the results from the 10 studies was determined to be moderate to low. Conclusions MMM was an effective method to reduce stress and anxiety, and to increase the well-being and mindfulness of university students. However, further studies are needed to confirm our findings. Trial Registration PROSPERO International Prospective Register of Systematic Reviews CRD42022303585; https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/display_record.php?RecordID=303585

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Effects of mobile mindfulness meditation on mental health of university students: Systematic review and meta-analysis (Preprint)

Chen¹,

Chen²,

Yang³

2021

Preprint

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BACKGROUND Mobile mindfulness meditation (MMM) is mindfulness meditation intervention implemented by mobile devices like smart phones and apps. MMM has been used to help managing mental health of university students. OBJECTIVE The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of MMM on mental health of university students in the areas of stress, anxiety, depression, mindfulness, well-being, and resilience. METHODS We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of the effectiveness of MMM on mental health of university students. An electronic literature search using the PubMed, Web of Science, EBSCO, Cochrane Library, and EMBASE from inception to July 16, 2021 was conducted to identify studies that reported the effects of MMM on stress, anxiety, depression, mindfulness, well-being, and resilience. Two reviewers retrieved articles, evaluated quality and extracted data independently. The methodological quality of the selected studies was determined using the Cochrane criteria for risk-of-bias assessment. The RevMan Version 5.3 was used to perform meta-analysis. RESULTS A total of 10 studies, including 958 university students, were selected for meta-analysis. Results showed that MMM was more effective than the control groups in decreasing stress (SMD=-0.41, 95% CI [-0.59, -0.23], P<0.0001), alleviating anxiety (SMD=-0.29, 95% CI [-0.50, -0.09], P=0.004), enhancing well-being (SMD=0.30, 95% CI [0.11, 0.50], P=0.003), and improving mindfulness (SMD=2.66, 95% CI [0.77, 4.55], P=0.006). However, there was no difference between MMM and the control groups in depression (SMD=-0.14, 95% CI [-0.30, 0.03], P=0.11), and resilience (SMD=-0.06, 95% CI [-0.26, 0.15], P=0.59). CONCLUSIONS MMM was an effective method to reduce stress, anxiety, and to increase well-being, mindfulness of university students, further studies are needed to confirm our findings. CLINICALTRIAL review article, no trail registration number.

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Response Actions of Malaysian Universities and Colleges in Managing Student Mental Health: A Systematic Review

Cited by 3 publications

References 25 publications

Perceptions and Beliefs Towards Mental Health and Mental Illness: A Qualitative Study among University Students in Malaysia

Perceptions and Beliefs Towards Mental Health and Mental Illness: A Qualitative Study among University Students in Malaysia

Effects of Mobile Mindfulness Meditation on the Mental Health of University Students: Systematic Review and Meta-analysis

Effects of mobile mindfulness meditation on mental health of university students: Systematic review and meta-analysis (Preprint)

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