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

Insa Backhaus; Mustika Fitri; Mahdi Esfahani; Huyen Thi Ngo; Li Jung Lin; Akira Yamanaka; Majed M. Alhumaid; Ling Qin; Azizuddin Khan; Nur ’Ashikin Fadzullah; Selina Khoo

doi:10.1177/10105395231172311

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

Insa Backhaus, Mustika Fitri, Mahdi Esfahani, Huyen Thi Ngo, Li Jung Lin, Akira Yamanaka, Majed M. Alhumaid, Ling Qin, Azizuddin Khan, Nur ’Ashikin Fadzullah, Selina Khoo^*

^*Corresponding author for this work

Graduate Institute of Sport, Leisure and Hospitality Management

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

2 Citations (Scopus)

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.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	244-250
Number of pages	7
Journal	Asia-Pacific Journal of Public Health
Volume	35
Issue number	4
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1177/10105395231172311
Publication status	Published - 2023 May

Keywords

loneliness
mental health
social support
university students

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

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10.1177/10105395231172311

Cite this

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

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.",

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AU - Backhaus, Insa

AU - Fitri, Mustika

AU - Esfahani, Mahdi

AU - Ngo, Huyen Thi

AU - Lin, Li Jung

AU - Yamanaka, Akira

AU - Alhumaid, Majed M.

AU - Qin, Ling

AU - Khan, Azizuddin

AU - Fadzullah, Nur ’Ashikin

AU - Khoo, Selina

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AB - 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.

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KW - social support

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

Abstract

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

UN SDGs

Access to Document

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