Mental health of students amidst the COVID-19 pandemic: An empirical study

PURPOSE: Considering the severity of the global outbreak of coronavirus (COVID-19) on the whole of humanity, particularly in this case on the physical and mental health of students, this study strives to explore the role of financial worries, employment anxiety and COVID-19 knowledge on depression and mental health among students in Bangladesh. DESIGN/METHODOLOGY/APPROACH: In the study, a deductive reasoning approach was employed, together with a self-administered questionnaire survey. Questionnaires were sent to the respondents via different social media and by email by creating a Google form link. We finally received 387 responses students aged over 18 years who had internet access in order to complete the survey. To analyze the data, structural equation modeling via AMOS was used. FINDINGS: The results showed that employment anxiety, financial worry, and knowledge on COVID-19 positively influence depression, and finally depression negatively influences the mental health of the students. Thus, our findings supported all of the proposed hypotheses. ORIGINALITY/VALUE: The research enriches the existing literature pool by contributing empirical substantiation on the role of employment anxiety, financial worries and knowledge of COVID-19 in depression, and the impact of depression on mental health.