Accepted for/Published in: JMIR Research Protocols
Date Submitted: Mar 13, 2021
Date Accepted: May 26, 2021
Date Submitted to PubMed: Jun 3, 2021
Warning: This is an author submission that is not peer-reviewed or edited.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.
Study protocol: a mixed methods study to assess the psychological impact of COVID-19 pandemics among Portuguese and Swiss higher education students
ABSTRACT
Background:
Public health emergencies may generate a range of unforeseen potential stressors to vulnerable individuals and communities. Higher education students are outstandingly vulnerable to both everyday stressors and mental health problems, so the psychiatric symptoms among students appear to be on the rise.
Objective:
This study will characterise the psychological impact of COVID-19 pandemics among Portuguese and Swiss higher education students.
Methods:
This project will be developed using a mixed-methods sequential explanatory design in Portugal and Switzerland. It will include two consecutive phases. During phase I, a quantitative study will assess the psychological responses of university students during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Snowball sampling technique will be used for collecting information from students. The association between variables will be determined with univariable and multivariable analysis. In phase II, qualitative data will be collected in order to understand the determinants of psychological stress and strategies adopted by the students as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Additionally, it will try to identify the students' opinions and feelings about the teaching-learning process during the quarantine period. In this phase, the participants will be selected using a purposive sampling method and the data from FGDs will be coded and inductively analysed using a thematic analysis approach. Finally, quantitative and qualitative results will be merged during interpretation to provide complementary perspectives.
Results:
This paper describes and discusses the protocol for this mixed-methods study, which will be completed in December 2021. This study was formally approved by the local ethics committee (CE/IPLEIRIA/22/2020) in Portugal, and authorized by the Swiss association of research ethics committees - Swissethics (Project ID: 2020-02889).
Conclusions:
We expect that this research can contribute to developing teaching tools and methods to reinforce positive mental health strategies, hope and adaptive coping through the development of a course on mental health interventions in the context of catastrophic/traumatic events. This project will also help government stakeholders and health/education professionals to safeguard the psychological well-being of students in the face of the expanding COVID-19 pandemic. Clinical Trial: Not applicable
Citation
