Mental Health during COVID-19 Pandemic: Does Social Support Count? A Cross-Sectional Survey among Lira University Students, Northern Uganda
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Date
2021Author
Anyolitho, Maxson Kenneth
Kabunga, Amir
Anyayo, Lucas Goodgame
Nakaziba, Rebecca
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COVID-19 pandemic that began in Wuhan, China towards the end of 2019 is the world’s catastrophe
of the 21st-century. As a result, the pandemic has disrupted all sectors of the world’s economies
including the education sector depending on their stages of implementation. For the case of tertiary
and University institutions, most of them were about to begin examinations but which had to be
put on halt as students had to go home. These disruptions could have serious mental health impacts
on the individuals. We conducted a cross-sectional study to assess the mental health status and its
association with social support during the COVID-19 lockdown among undergraduate students
of Lira University. We used a non-probability convenience sampling technique to identify the
students. We developed an online survey questionnaire using google form and sent to the students’
email and social media contacts. Responses were submitted directly to a google central server in an excel form and later exported to SPSS V.25 for analysis. We used descriptive statistical analysis
to show frequency distributions, mean, and graphs and Chi-square test to establish possible
relationships. More than half of the respondents, 57% were females, 34.63% were in the age group
21-22 years old, the majority were in the third year (33.97%). The majority of students were in good
mental health and had positive social support. The findings also revealed a significant statistical
association between social support and mental health status. Based on the results, there is a need
to provide social support to students when they are at home during the pandemics such as the
COVID-19 to ensure their mental health stability.
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