Accepted for/Published in: Journal of Medical Internet Research
Date Submitted: Sep 21, 2020
Date Accepted: Oct 28, 2020
Date Submitted to PubMed: Dec 9, 2020
Warning: This is an author submission that is not peer-reviewed or edited. Preprints - unless they show as "accepted" - should not be relied on to guide clinical practice or health-related behavior and should not be reported in news media as established information.
Anxiety and suicidal thoughts during COVID-19 pandemic: A cross-country comparison among Indonesian, Taiwanese, and Thai university students
ABSTRACT
Background:
The novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) tremendously influence mental health of university students.
Objective:
The present study aims to understand the psychological responses toward COVID-19 among university students across three countries of Indonesia, Taiwan, and Thailand.
Methods:
Using a cross-sectional online survey, university students from five public universities (two in Indonesia and Thailand each; one in Taiwan) were recruited via popular social media, including Facebook, LINE, broadcast WhatsApp. All the students (n=938 in Indonesia, 734 in Thailand, 313 in Taiwan) completed questions on their anxiety, suicidal thoughts, confidence in COVID-19 pandemic control, risk perception in susceptibility to COVID-19, perceived support, resources for fighting COVID-19, and sources of COVID-19 information.
Results:
Thai students had the highest levels of anxiety and suicidal thoughts; lowest levels of confidence in pandemic control and available resources of fighting COVID-19 among the four student groups. Factors associated with higher anxiety and suicidal thoughts differ across countries. Less perceived satisfactory support is associated with more suicidal thoughts in Indonesian and Thai students. Taiwanese students were highly affected by information gathered from the internet and from medical staff.
Conclusions:
Healthcare providers in Thailand may need to pay special attention to Thai university students given their highest levels of anxiety and suicidal thoughts. In addition, healthcare providers may consider establishing a good supporting system for university students as our results indicate a negative association between support and suicidal thoughts.
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