Prevalence and Determinant Factors of Mental Health Assignment

Assignment Task

Project Summary

The aim of this study is to identify the prevalence of mental health problems, attitudes relating to mental health and help-seeking behavior among Omani undergraduate students. By Identifying the prevalence and its determinants among undergraduate students will help implementing appropriate awareness programs and intervention tools to improve their quality of life and identify the realistic need for psychological support in undergraduate facilities across the country, The study will also enable international comparisons between youth mental health data in Oman and published international norms. In addition to understanding help-seeking behaviour and attitudes related to mental health could provide further insight of the usage and acceptance of psychological services in the country and potential influencing factors.

(i) Please state the sources of all funds to be used for this project, if any. As the study will be a web-based survey, no sources of funds are needed

(ii) Is this project part of a multi-centre research project? If YES, please provide a copy of the ethical approval from the study centre.

(iii) Conflict of Interest: Will you or any of the researchers receive any sort of remuneration or reward from non-University Sources for work done in this research.

RISKS AND BENEFITS

As the study will be a web-based survey, no direct risks to the participation of the study. if any emotional or psychological distress, information on local psychological services will be provided as part of the debrief in the study. All participants who are found to have significant mental health issues will be directed to receive appropriate management within the debrief page and will be notified with a directory of all available sources of help. The study will be entirely voluntary and participants will be reminded of their option to quit or retract their participation at any time.

Consent

An information pack and consent form will be provided to the participants to clarify aims and rights, the participants will be informed of the duration, content, and purpose of the study and they will need to agree and give consent before proceeding. Participants will be reassured that the collected information will remain confidential.

Proposed Research

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), mental health is defined as the state of well-being where an individual realizes his/ her own abilities in various areas such as the ability to think, express emotions, interact with others and enjoy their lives. Mental health is one of the three essential components of Health, as it is stated by the WHO “health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not only the absence of diseases or infirmity” (World Health

Organisation, 2018). Mental illnesses have an effect on one’s daily lives activities and cause malfunctioning in social settings and activities (Parekh, 2018). In 2013 depression ranked 2nd and anxiety ranked 7 thin the top 20 causes of the Global Burden of Diseases (GBD),(Vigo, Thornicroft, & Atun, 2016). Ritchie and Roser (2018) estimated the prevalence of mental illness globally to be 10.7% of the world’s population. Anxiety disorders and depression came to be the most common mental disorders with a percentage of 3.8% and 3.4% respectively.

A steady increase of mental health problems and illnesses has been witnessed in the university student population all around the globe (Adlaf et al., 2001; Macaskill, 2013; Zivin et al., 2009). It has become a major concern for academic institutions as research studies evidenced that university students are at a high risk of developing mental illnesses (Gibbons et al., 2019; Thorley, 2017). This has been specifically witnessed with undergraduate students as they mark a crucial developmental transition from adolescence to young adulthood (Gibbons et al., 2019; Hunt & Eisenberg, 2010; Le & Wilkinson, 2018). During this period mental health issues are profound while students begin to develop their identities, independence, and form new relationships (Scanlon, Rowling, & Weber, 2007). Additionally, different academic standards and demands are introduced in which students need to adjust to (Byrd & McKinney, 2012). Altogether, these novel experiences can be challenging and ultimately distressful. This is supported by Gibbons et al. (2019) research study which examined student perspectives on mental health in college.

The findings revealed that students perceived stress and anxiety as the main mental health issues on campus and the academic load being the biggest influence on their mental and emotional health problems. Therefore, students were interested in increasing their knowledge about mental health and were supportive of campus counseling services. Similarly, Boke et al. (2019) found that high stress is a common problem of undergraduate students. Further indicated the presence of a significant relationship between stress and unhealthy coping mechanisms, particularly substance use coping. Besides stress and anxiety, numerous studies documented different mental health problems experienced by undergraduate students such as depression (Davies et al., 2016), insomnia (Gress‐Smith et al., 2015), and eating disorders (Eisenberg et al., 2011; Thangaraju et al., 2020). Consequently, these mental health problems lead to decrease in the academic performance (Eisenberg, Golberstein, & Hunt, 2009), weak interpersonal relationships (Salzer, 2012), and withdrawal from university (Eisenberg et al., 2009). From this standpoint, it is important to promote mental health in the universities by providing necessary psychological support and services. Given that, it is important to examine the mental health of university students in Oman due to the presence of a minimum of documentation; especially with a shortage of mental health support services at universities, there is a high potential for undiscovered mental health problems.

Rationale

To our knowledge, there is yet to be a national survey in Oman highlighting the prevalence of mental health problems such as anxiety and depression with taking into regards help seeking behaviors, sociodemographic associations, and attitudes on mental health. Most studies have a small representative sample or were specific towards medical students.

The specific objectives of this study are the following:

• To determine the prevalence of mental health problems among Omani undergraduate students specifically anxiety, depression, mild psychiatric disorders, and stress, and compare them to international norms.
• To explore the potential sociodemographic risk factors of mental health problems among undergraduate students.
• To explore the availability and willingness to use mental health services
• To explore help seeking behaviors and attitudes towards mental health services among undergraduate students

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