Gender differences in post COVID-19 mental health status and its relationship with academic performance among undergraduate university students

• Main Authors: Kamarulzaman, Wirawani, Shafie, Norazzila, Kamarul Zaman, Wirawahida
• Format: Conference or Workshop Item
• Language: English
• Published: Global Academia Network (M) Sdn Bhd 2022
• Subjects: LB1050.9 Educational psychology
• Online Access: http://irep.iium.edu.my/103094/1/103094_Gender%20differences%20in%20post%20COVID-19.pdf; http://irep.iium.edu.my/103094/; https://submit.confbay.com/conf/imcsmet2022
• Institution: Universiti Islam Antarabangsa Malaysia

The global COVID-19 epidemic has had a substantial effect on human lives. During the first wave of the pandemic, countries around the world were required to implement the lockdown to prevent the virus from spreading. Coping with the changes had led to mental health issues among students. Before the massive outbreak of COVID-19, many researchers examined students' mental health, but they rarely examined settings similar to those during the endemic. As a consequence of this, the objective of this research is to assess the mental health status of undergraduate students at universities, the differences in that status that exist between the genders, and the relationship that mental health status has with academic performance. The study employs the quantitative research design. Students' mental health was assessed using the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) developed by Cohen et al. (1983) to measure perceived stress among students. Survey method was used to collect the data from 142 undergraduate students voluntarily from public and private universities in Malaysia. According to the findings, students have low degrees of mental health difficulties, with female students suffering more stress than their male counterparts. Furthermore, there is no relationship between students' mental health and their academic performance. A few suggestions for future research are also offered.