COVID-19 mental health impacts on academic engagement: a study on students of Egypt and India
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to investigate the association between COVID-19-related fear and academic engagement, perceived stress and life satisfaction among college students in two countries – Egypt in Africa and India in Asia, during the pandemic. The study also aims to analyze the moderating role of gender in these relationships.
Design/methodology/approach
Structural equation modeling was used to analyze data collected from 1,125 college students from India and 1,145 college students from Egypt.
Findings
Positive correlations were found between fear of COVID-19 and perceived stress among the college students of Egypt and India, while negative correlations were found between fear of COVID-19 and both student engagement and life satisfaction. The strength of these relationships was found to be stronger in the Egyptian sample compared to the Indian sample. Gender was found to be a significant factor in the relationships between the variables studied. In the Indian sample, female respondents appeared to experience more mental health concerns and academic impacts than male respondents. In the Egyptian sample, however, the gender effects varied for the different relationships between the fear of COVID-19 and the other chosen variables.
Originality/value
The results emphasize the need to reevaluate and monitor policies and resources to promote positive mental health among adolescents, especially during times of crisis. The study stands among the pioneers that investigated a comparative study of two countries to check the mental health impacts on the study engagement during the pandemic.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
Author’s contribution: R.L. conceived of the study, participated in its design and coordination, data collection, interpretation of the data, performed the statistical analyses and drafted the manuscript; M.E. participated in the design, collection, interpretation of the data and drafted the manuscript.
Declarations
Ethics approval and consent to participate: The research is confined to the highest level of ethics. All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki Declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards. Participation was voluntary and electronic consent was received from all participants.
Consent for publication: Yes.
Availability of data and material: Available on request for research purpose.
Citation
Lathabhavan, R. and El-Bardan, M.F. (2024), "COVID-19 mental health impacts on academic engagement: a study on students of Egypt and India", Mental Health and Social Inclusion, Vol. ahead-of-print No. ahead-of-print. https://doi.org/10.1108/MHSI-10-2024-0192
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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