Previously submitted to: Journal of Medical Internet Research (no longer under consideration since Sep 06, 2021)
Date Submitted: Sep 2, 2021
Open Peer Review Period: Sep 2, 2021 - Sep 6, 2021
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Prevalence of mental health issues and associated risk factors among Chinese international students in US colleges during the COVID-19 pandemic: a cross-sectional study
ABSTRACT
Background:
Previous studies have shown that COVID-19 increased the prevalence of depression and anxiety among various populations. However, few have explored the mental health issues of Chinese international students in the US and the risk factors involved.
Objective:
his study examines the prevalence of anxiety and depression among Chinese international students enrolled in US universities during the COVID-19 pandemic and identifies the risk factors pertaining to changes in lifestyle, social support, sleep quality, and the virtual instruction mode to this student population.
Methods:
This study was conducted via an online cross-sectional questionnaire distributed through snowball sampling. The questions of the survey included demographic information, self-constructed questions on academic performance, financial concerns, use of social media, exercise, and psychological support, the Social Support Rating Scale (SSRS), the Insomnia Severity Index (ISI), the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 for depression (PHQ-9), and the General Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7) for anxiety. Univariate analyses and multivariate logistic regression analysis were performed to identify the associated risk factors.
Results:
From the 1881 participants, this study found a general prevalence of depression (PHQ-9 score⩾ 5) at 48.6% and that of anxiety (GAD-7⩾ 5) at 43.0% among Chinese international students in the US during the late COVID pandemic period. Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that recent traumatic event(s), having friend(s) as tuition source(s), agreeing with and strongly agreeing with the pandemic’s impacts on financial status, a little workload, medium workload, a lot of workload, and higher ISI scores to be a associated with an increased risk of depression, while being a PhD student, more sources of emotional support, and higher SSRI scores were associated a lower risk of depression. Additionally, having friend(s) as tuition source(s), a little workload, often staying up for online courses, strongly agreeing with remote learning’s negative impacts on personal relationships, and higher ISI scores were associated with an increased risk of anxiety, while higher SSRI scores and older ages were associated with a lower risk of anxiety.
Conclusions:
This study showed a high prevalence of depression and anxiety among Chinese international students in the US. Multiple risk factors pertaining to financial concerns, workload, social support, and sleep quality were identified. It is important for future studies to further investigate this student population and for schools to make adjustments to better accommodate their psychological needs.
Citation
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