Anxiety and depression among tertiary level students in Bangladesh during COVID-19 outbreak

Objective: This study aimed to find out anxiety and depression among tertiary level students in Bangladesh during COVID-19 outbreak.

Method: The online survey design was used in this study. To measure anxiety and depression, the Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7) and Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) scales were used. Binary logistic regression was performed to assess the impact of several factors on the likelihood that respondents would report that they had a problem with anxiety and depression.

Results: The strongest predictor of binary logistic regression of reporting anxiety was gender (OR: 2.848; 95% CI; 1.836-4.417; p < .001) indicating female students had about 2.9 times more likely to report anxiety than male students controlling for all other factors. The duration of using social media (OR: 0.567; 95% CI; 0.329-0.978; p < 0.05) was also affecting the level of anxiety of the students. Depression was getting affected by the present living place (OR: 0.507; 95% CI; 0.316-0.814; p=.005).

Conclusion: This study showed that students were having different level of anxiety and depression. Gender, the present living place and the duration of using social media were the significant factors for anxiety disorder. Depression was also getting affected by the present living place and the duration of using social media.