Assessing the impact of COVID-19 on mental health among university students: a cross-sectional study

Purpose This study aims to identify the key factors contributing to mental health issues among home-quarantined university students in Bangladesh during the COVID-19 pandemic and analyze how these factors affect their psychological well-being. Design/methodology/approach This study adopted a positivist paradigm and used a cross-sectional design. Data were collected from 480 public university students in Bangladesh using a snowball sampling technique. A 22-item standardized questionnaire was administered through Google Form, with responses gathered on a four-point Likert scale. SPSS v. 25 and SmartPLS v. 3.0 were used for data analysis. Findings The results indicate that stagnation in the educational system (SES), social interaction and communication changes (SICC), economic crisis (EC) and infrastructural and technological insufficiency (ITI) significantly impact students’ mental health (MDS). All four hypotheses showed p -values below 0.05, with beta values of 0.183, 0.181, 0.242 and 0.262, respectively. The coefficient of determination ( R² ) was 0.420, demonstrating a substantial collective impact on students’ mental health. Originality/value This study offers valuable information about how the COVID-19 pandemic affected the mental health of university students in Bangladesh and suggests ways to reduce mental stress in similar situations.