Factors Associated with Mental Health among International Students during the COVID-19 Pandemic in South Korea

The purpose of this study was to investigate mental health problems among international students in South Korean universities during the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as to identify the factors that affect their mental health. A total of 488 international students living in South Korea participated in...

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Autores principales: Kim, Hae Ran, Kim, Eun Jung
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2021
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8582877/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34769902
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph182111381
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author Kim, Hae Ran
Kim, Eun Jung
author_facet Kim, Hae Ran
Kim, Eun Jung
author_sort Kim, Hae Ran
collection PubMed
description The purpose of this study was to investigate mental health problems among international students in South Korean universities during the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as to identify the factors that affect their mental health. A total of 488 international students living in South Korea participated in a web-based survey. The questionnaire was created using the Google Forms platform, and a link to the questionnaire was shared through social media. Multiple logistic regression analysis was conducted to analyze the data. The prevalence rates of sleep problems, anxiety, and depression among international students were 47.1%, 39.6%, and 49%, respectively. The prevalence of mental health problems was higher among participants who were male, living with someone, residents of a rural area, and earning a higher income. The following variables were found to contribute to the prevalence of mental health problems: undergraduate student status, good understanding of the Korean language, longer hours of media usage, and experiences related to COVID-19 infection. A collaborative effort between the government and universities to manage the mental health of international students could promote the mental health of these students.
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spelling pubmed-85828772021-11-12 Factors Associated with Mental Health among International Students during the COVID-19 Pandemic in South Korea Kim, Hae Ran Kim, Eun Jung Int J Environ Res Public Health Article The purpose of this study was to investigate mental health problems among international students in South Korean universities during the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as to identify the factors that affect their mental health. A total of 488 international students living in South Korea participated in a web-based survey. The questionnaire was created using the Google Forms platform, and a link to the questionnaire was shared through social media. Multiple logistic regression analysis was conducted to analyze the data. The prevalence rates of sleep problems, anxiety, and depression among international students were 47.1%, 39.6%, and 49%, respectively. The prevalence of mental health problems was higher among participants who were male, living with someone, residents of a rural area, and earning a higher income. The following variables were found to contribute to the prevalence of mental health problems: undergraduate student status, good understanding of the Korean language, longer hours of media usage, and experiences related to COVID-19 infection. A collaborative effort between the government and universities to manage the mental health of international students could promote the mental health of these students. MDPI 2021-10-29 /pmc/articles/PMC8582877/ /pubmed/34769902 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph182111381 Text en © 2021 by the authors. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
spellingShingle Article
Kim, Hae Ran
Kim, Eun Jung
Factors Associated with Mental Health among International Students during the COVID-19 Pandemic in South Korea
title Factors Associated with Mental Health among International Students during the COVID-19 Pandemic in South Korea
title_full Factors Associated with Mental Health among International Students during the COVID-19 Pandemic in South Korea
title_fullStr Factors Associated with Mental Health among International Students during the COVID-19 Pandemic in South Korea
title_full_unstemmed Factors Associated with Mental Health among International Students during the COVID-19 Pandemic in South Korea
title_short Factors Associated with Mental Health among International Students during the COVID-19 Pandemic in South Korea
title_sort factors associated with mental health among international students during the covid-19 pandemic in south korea
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8582877/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34769902
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph182111381
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