Mental Health, Loneliness, and Social Support Among Undergraduate Students: A Multinational Study in Asia

Backhaus I 1 , Fitri M 2 , Esfahani M 3 , Ngo HT 4 , Lin LJ 5 , Yamanaka A 6 Show all authors , Alhumaid MM 7 , Qin L 8 , Khan A 9 , Fadzullah N' 10 , Khoo S 10

Affiliations 

  • 1 Institute of Medical Sociology, Centre for Health and Society, Medical Faculty, Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf, Germany
  • 2 Sport Science Study Program, Faculty of Sport and Health Education, Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia, Bandung, Indonesia
  • 3 Department of Sport Science, Imam Reza International University, Mashhad, Iran
  • 4 Faculty of Library and Information Science, University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Vietnam National University, Ho Chi Minh City, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
  • 5 Graduate Institute of Sport, Leisure & Hospitality Management, National Taiwan Normal University, Taipei, Taiwan
  • 6 Faculty of Collaborative Regional Innovation, Ehime University, Ehime, Japan
  • 7 Department of Physical Education, College of Education, King Faisal University, Al-Ahsa, Saudi Arabia
  • 8 Faculty of Physical Education and Health Sciences, Chongqing Normal University, Chongqing, China
  • 9 Psychophysiology Laboratory, Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, Mumbai, India
  • 10 Faculty of Sports and Exercise Science, Universiti Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Asia Pac J Public Health, 2023 May;35(4):244-250.
PMID: 37226778 DOI: 10.1177/10105395231172311

Abstract

In this study, we aimed to investigate the prevalence of poor mental health and its association with loneliness and social support among 3531 undergraduate students in nine Asian countries. Mental health was assessed using the Self-Reporting Questionnaire, which was developed by the World Health Organization. Across the entire sample, we detected that nearly half of the students reported poor mental health according to the Self-Reporting Questionnaire and nearly one out of seven students felt lonely. While feeling lonely increased the odds of experiencing poor mental health (odds ratio [OR]), moderate (OR: 0.35) and strong social support (OR: 0.18) decreases the odds of experiencing poor mental health. The high prevalence of poor mental health calls for further in-depth investigations and implementation of mental health support interventions.

* Title and MeSH Headings from MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine.

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