COVID-19 and Students’ Mental Wellbeing: A Cross-Sectional Study across Selected Nigerian Universities

The emergence of the coronavirus pandemic has affected the global population in an unprecedented way, which has disrupted livelihoods, as well as social activities including the closure of schools. The effect of the pandemic and the associated lockdown measures amplified the mental status of tertiary institution students in Nigeria, which has not been taken into proper view. To this effect, this study was conducted to assess the extent to which the coronavirus pandemic and lockdown measures impacted the mental health of tertiary university students in Southwestern, Nigeria. A cross-sectional online survey, using the standardized Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) and Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7) depression and anxiety questionnaires were used, and appropriate summary statistics were carried out. In all (122 respondents), more than a third (35.5%) of the respondents had daily uncontrolled worries, 6.7% had suicidal intent, and over a tenth (14.2%) and (13.9%) had depression and anxiety respectively. The psychological impact of the coronavirus pandemic and associated lockdown measures on Nigerian university students is quite significant. Therefore, the mental well-being of Nigerian students should be taken into awareness and prioritized.