COVID-19: Mental Health and Academic Performance Among University Students
Abstract
Mental health status may contribute differently to academic outcome. Hence, the main objective of this study is to assess the association of mental health with academic performance in online learning. Online learning involves time and space separation between the instructors and the learners, depending fully on the collaboration of digital technologies and online telecommunication system. This research applied a quantitative research method, using a survey-based questionnaire, namely 12-Item General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12) for mental health status and students’ current grade point average (GPA). A total of 140 undergraduates from all faculties who experienced online learning in University Malaysia Sarawak (UNIMAS) were invited and their demographic profiles were analysed through the descriptive and correlational analysis using Spearman correlation tests. Results showed a significant relationship between mental health and undergraduate students’ academic performance. Specifically, the loss of confidence factor was the only mental health factor that demonstrated a significantly negative, but weak correlation with their GPA. Hence, according to the findings from this research, it can be concluded that the higher the score for mental health status, the higher the tendency for the students to experience negative mental illness. Consequently, this affects their academic performances.
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