Factors associated with psychosocial symptoms experienced by students in response to COVID-19 pandemic: a multivariate analysis

Kadir, A., Sunarno, S. D. A. M., Oktaviana, A., Zulfah, A. F., Maharani, C. F., Santoso, N. T., Lestari, F., Erwandi, D. and Dhesi, S. K. (2023) Factors associated with psychosocial symptoms experienced by students in response to COVID-19 pandemic: a multivariate analysis. INQUIRY: The Journal of Health Care Organization, Provision, and Financing, 60, (doi: 10.1177/00469580231155720)

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly impacted many sectors, including the education sector. After in-person school activities were suspended due to the pandemic, a number of educational institutions in Indonesia reported concerns in implementing online learning due to the institutions’ unpreparedness. This issue may potentially induce mental health disorders among students and triggers long-term stress. This study aimed to examine factors linked to the psychosocial symptoms of anxiety, stress, and depression in response to the early stage of the COVID-19 pandemic. An online cross-sectional study in Indonesia was conducted with 433 undergraduate and senior high school students aged 15 to 26 years old, both female and male. The self-reported symptoms were analyzed using both bivariate and multivariate linear regression methods. It was found that the percentage of participants with depression symptoms was 66%, while 61% and 43% participants experienced stress and anxiety respectively. The bivariate analysis presented strong correlations between anxiety and gender, learning duration and use of gadgets, internet expenses, and highly-interrupted learning. Furthermore, the multivariate regression revealed that only anxiety was significantly linked to internet expenses. This study indicates that many students are affected by COVID-19, the impacts of which manifest in psychosocial issues in the form of anxiety. We suggest that creating a supportive and positive family environment would help to alleviate some of these issues.

• Item Type: Articles
• Additional Information: This research is funded by Directorate of Research and Development, Universitas Indonesia, Under Hibah PUTI Q2 2022 (Grant No. NKB-1278/UN2.RST/HKP.05.00/2022).
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Santoso, Nanda Trio
• Authors: Kadir, A., Sunarno, S. D. A. M., Oktaviana, A., Zulfah, A. F., Maharani, C. F., Santoso, N. T., Lestari, F., Erwandi, D., and Dhesi, S. K.
• College/School: College of Social Sciences
• Journal Name: INQUIRY: The Journal of Health Care Organization, Provision, and Financing
• Publisher: SAGE Publications
• ISSN: 0046-9580
• ISSN (Online): 1945-7243
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2023 The Authors
• First Published: First published in INQUIRY: The Journal of Health Care Organization, Provision, and Financing 60
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced under a Creative Commons License