Anxiety and Its Determinants among Undergraduate Students during E-learning in Bangladesh Amid Covid-19

Abstract

Background: The universities of Bangladesh are closed for more than seventeen months due to the covid-19 pandemic. This prolonged detachment has psychological consequences among the students. This study assessed the anxiety level and its determinants among the undergraduate students of Bangladesh, along with constraints faced by them during e-learning. Methods: A web-based cross-sectional survey among 206 undergraduate students was conducted using a well-structured questionnaire. Their anxiety level was estimated using Zung's self-rating anxiety scale (SAS) and determinates were identified by employing a Tobit model. The problem confrontation index (PCI) was used to rank the constraints. Results: About 82.5% of the undergraduate students in Bangladesh are experiencing mild to extreme anxiety, while 14.08% are experiencing extreme anxiety. Students' gender, father's year of schooling, family size, residential area, academic year, current accommodation, and access to high-speed internet affect their level of anxiety. Learning alone at home, lacking access to learning resources and inaccessibility to other e-learning platforms are the top three constraints students faced during e-learning. Limitations: Self-reported data, socio-demographic variables and online survey. Conclusion: Covid-19 has been causing anxiety among the students. This study recommends providing better internet services for facilitating e-learning along with access to different e-learning platforms.

Keywords

• Covid-19
• Anxiety
• Lockdown
• Mental health
• University students
• E-learning