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Methods
Methods:
The online survey was conducted among the college students of Macao in August 2020 before the commencement of the autumn semester. The participants were selected through snowball sampling. The questionnaire was distributed through the Wenjuanxing platform (Changsha Haoxing Information Technology Co., Ltd., Changsha, China). After the informed consent process, the participants completed the questionnaire on the mobile phone by scanning the QR (Quick Response) code via WeChat (a social network APP in China). The questionnaire was filled only once for each registered account holder and was not able to be modified after submission. The Ethical Review Committee of the Zhuhai M.U.S.T. Science Research Academy approved to carry out the study (Ethical Application Ref: MUST-MEC-20200701XY).
Translation:
In August 2020, just before the fall semester started, college students in Macao took part in an online survey. The research used snowball sampling, where students who completed the survey referred other students to participate. Students first gave informed consent, then scanned a QR code using WeChat on their phones. After that, they answered the questions online. Each student could submit the survey only once and could not change their answers after submitting.
Introduction
Introduction:
College students might be at higher risk of chronic mental health problems associated with an acute, high-intensity, and uncontrollable stress during the outbreak of the COVID-19, since they were under greater psychological stress resulting from lack of interpersonal communication, active face to face job hunting, online academic studies, and financial difficulties.
Translation:
The researchers suggest that college students are more likely to develop long-term mental health issues during the pandemic because it created a lot of sudden and intense stress that they could not control. They were under extra pressure because of studying online, worrying about finding work, dealing with stress from online classes, and managing financial challenges.
Results
Results:
The mental health status was significantly different in various study majors (P < 0.001), and students majoring in Humanities & Arts had poorer mental health status than other majors (P < 0.05, Bonferroni corrected). More details are shown in Table 2. The score of GHQ-12 was significantly higher in female students than that of male ones (P = 0.007). On the other hand, 54.86% of participants had good sleep quality during the COVID-19 pandemic, suggesting that only 45.14% of participants had poor sleep quality. The sleep quality had significant differences with age (P = 0.004) and majors (P < 0.001). Participants older than 20 had poor sleep quality. Moreover, students with the major in Medicine & Health had better sleep quality (P < 0.05, Bonferroni corrected).
Translation:
The survey showed clear differences in mental health depending on students’ field of study, with those in Humanities and Arts facing the most challenges. Female students also reported higher levels of stress and emotional difficulty compared to male students. Sleep was also an issue, with about 45% of students reporting poor sleep quality, while around 55% reported good sleep. Age also played a role, as students over 20 generally had worse sleep compared to younger students. In addition, students in Medicine and Health reported better sleep quality than students in other majors.
Discussion
Discussion:
The lack of space for physical activity, limited social interaction and psychological stress associated with fear of infection after the COVID-19 outbreak might reduce the sleep quality in college students and increase their negative emotion.
Translation:
Because students were restricted to small living spaces where they couldn’t exercise, were cut off from their friends, and were constantly worried about catching the virus, they ended up sleeping poorly and feeling more upset or anxious.
Future Directions
Future research should look at why students over 20 and female students reported much lower sleep and mental health. Universities may be able to provide more specialized assistance programs for those particular groups if they have a better understanding of the reasons behind this.
Difficult Material
The most challenging part was understanding the specific scoring mechanics for the GHQ-12 and PSQI. While the paper provides the final results, it does not include the scoring keys or the specific numerical thresholds used to categorize a student as a ‘poor sleeper’ or ‘psychologically distressed.’ Understanding these would have made the statistical results much clearer.