Assessment of mental wellbeing of university students in Bangladesh using Goldberg's GHQ-12: A cross-sectional study

Abstract

: Background and Aims: The mental well‐being of university students is a primarypublic health concern worldwide, including in Bangladesh. The objective of this studywas to determine the prevalence of the overall mental health status amongBangladeshi university students. The study used larger and more diverse samplecompared to previous studies, and also explored factors associated with the mentalhealth well‐being of those students.Methods: Data were collected through an online questionnaire, utilizing theproportional allocation method, from students in various universities acrossBangladesh. The sample included 2036 participants. The study applied Goldberg'sGeneral Health Questionnaire (GHQ‐12) using the GHQ2+ threshold (i.e., havingmore than two symptoms). A binary outcome variable was created with two levels:“good mental health” and “poor mental health,” to assess the mental health status ofthe university students. The explanatory variables were age, gender, academic year,type of university, and sources of personal expenses. Exploratory data analysis,association tests, and binary logistic regression models were used to identify factorsinfluencing the outcome variable.Results: A total of 55.9% of students (male: 52.6% and female: 62.8%) exhibitedpoor mental health status. Female students' mental health was found to be worse(odds ratio [OR]: 1.49, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.23–1.81) compared to that ofmales. Similarly, public university students displayed a worse mental health conditionthan their counterparts in private universities (OR: 1.29, 95% CI: 1.03–1.61).Conclusion: The overall mental health of university students in Bangladesh isconcerning. There is a pressing need for effective mental health policies andinterventions to bolster the mental well‐being of university students, with a specificfocus on students from public universities and females