Department of Psychiatry

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https://ir2.lirauni.ac.ug/handle/123456789/379

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Browsing Department of Psychiatry by Author "Anyayo, Lucas Goodgame"

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    Mental Health during COVID-19 Pandemic: Does Social Support Count? A Cross-Sectional Survey among Lira University Students, Northern Uganda
    (PQ Neurology and Psychology, 2021) Anyolitho, Maxson Kenneth; Kabunga, Amir; Anyayo, Lucas Goodgame; Nakaziba, Rebecca
    COVID-19 pandemic that began in Wuhan, China towards the end of 2019 is the world’s catastrophe of the 21st-century. As a result, the pandemic has disrupted all sectors of the world’s economies including the education sector depending on their stages of implementation. For the case of tertiary and University institutions, most of them were about to begin examinations but which had to be put on halt as students had to go home. These disruptions could have serious mental health impacts on the individuals. We conducted a cross-sectional study to assess the mental health status and its association with social support during the COVID-19 lockdown among undergraduate students of Lira University. We used a non-probability convenience sampling technique to identify the students. We developed an online survey questionnaire using google form and sent to the students’ email and social media contacts. Responses were submitted directly to a google central server in an excel form and later exported to SPSS V.25 for analysis. We used descriptive statistical analysis to show frequency distributions, mean, and graphs and Chi-square test to establish possible relationships. More than half of the respondents, 57% were females, 34.63% were in the age group 21-22 years old, the majority were in the third year (33.97%). The majority of students were in good mental health and had positive social support. The findings also revealed a significant statistical association between social support and mental health status. Based on the results, there is a need to provide social support to students when they are at home during the pandemics such as the COVID-19 to ensure their mental health stability.
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    Personality and Mental Health among Lira University Students during the COVID-19 Pandemic
    (International Journal of Academic Research in Psychology, 2020) Kabunga, Amir; Anyolitho, Maxson Kenneth; Anyayo, Lucas Goodgame
    Abstract COVID-19 pandemic is one of the 21st -century major health crises affecting the world. Due to the pandemic, education activities were disrupted and examinations were postponed. This could have far-reaching effects on the students both physically, socially, mentally, and emotionally. In this context, we conducted a cross-sectional study among undergraduate students at Lira University to assess whether there could be any relationship between their personality and mental health. A total of. Non-probability Volunteer and convenience sampling technique was used to select156 undergraduate students who participated in this study. Data was collected using a well-designed survey questionnaire and posted onto google form. Mental status was screened using the Mental Health Continuum Short Form while personality was screened using the Extraversion vs. Introversion Scale adapted from the Big Five Inventory. Both categorical and numerical data were summarized using descriptive statistics. Chi-square statistic was used to obtain the correlation between the variables. More than half, 55.77% of the participants were males, 42.95% were females while 1.28% did not disclose their gender. The results showed that 83.97% of the respondents had positive mental health, 14.74% had average mental health and 1.28% had poor mental health. The results showed that 88.46% were extroverts. Finally, the results revealed that there was a significant positive correlation between personality and mental health status. There is a need for mental health professionals to keep the mental health balance of students in the University. Counseling should also be planned along with online teaching. Besides, there is a need to understand the personality traits of students to deal with their mental health accordingly.
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    Prevalence of and institutional factors associated with depression among undergraduate students at Gulu University
    (Insights Depress Anxiety, 2022) Anyayo, Lucas Goodgame; Kabunga, Amir; Okalo, Ponsiano; Apili, Brenda; Nalwoga, Viola
    Background: Many institutional factors predispose University students to mental health issues, including depression. However, with no central database for depression in Uganda, literature on depression and associated institutional factors among undergraduate students is scarce. This study examined the prevalence of and institutional factors associated with depression among undergraduate students at Gulu University. Methods: This was a cross-sectional survey among 452 undergraduate students at Gulu University in the academic year 2018/2019 in February and March 2019. A stratifi ed simple random sampling was used to identify the participants. A self-administered questionnaire was used to collect data. Descriptive statistics, including mean and frequency, were used. We conducted a bivariate analysis to determine the association between variables employing Pearson’s chi-square test or Fischer’s exact test. We conducted a multivariate analysis with factors that had signifi cant P-values of less than 0.05. Results: The average age of the respondents was 22.4 (SD - 2.4), more than half (53.1%) were male and 38.50% were in the second year. The results show that 31.19% reported depression. After controlling for age and sex, the results showed that there was a statistically signifi cant correlation between depression and faculty (aOR - 1.15), year of study (aOR - 0.77), happiness with the course (aOR - 0-0.49), satisfaction with academic performance (aOR - 0.45), and satisfaction with academic quality (aOR - 0.61). The results indicated that the predictors of depression among undergraduate students were faculty, year of study, satisfaction with academic performance, and satisfaction with academic quality. Conclusion: A substantial proportion of Gulu University undergraduate students reported high levels of depression. The results, therefore, showed that depression in undergraduate students is an identifi able disorder that needs diagnosis, prevention, and treatment. Faculty, year of study, satisfaction with academic performance, satisfaction with academic quality were predictors of depression. Thus there is an urgent need for counseling, psychoeducation, and preventive mental health services as an essential part of the university setup.