Shaimaa Baher - Academia.edu (original) (raw)
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Papers by Shaimaa Baher
Open Access Macedonian Journal of Medical Sciences, 2022
BACKGROUND: COVID-19 pandemic has demonstrated the impact of a major public health emergency on m... more BACKGROUND: COVID-19 pandemic has demonstrated the impact of a major public health emergency on mental health. AIM: The aim of the study was to assess psychological impact among university students and train them to raise mental health awareness among their peers during the pandemic. METHODS: This an online electronic survey that was carried out over the period of July to September 2020. Study participants were medical and paramedical university students representing students' union alliance of the Egyptian Youth Initiative. A convenient non-probability sampling method used for recruiting the study participants. Key mental health outcomes investigated 2 weeks before the survey were posttraumatic stress symptoms, symptoms of depression using Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9), anxiety using Generalized Anxiety Disorder scale (GAD-7), insomnia using Insomnia Severity Index, and perceived stress using Perceived Stress Scale (PSS). Based on the preliminary analysis of the online questionnaires, a PhD qualified psychiatrist was assigned to develop an online psychosocial support to the volunteers' students (n = 60) to be facilitators for raising mental awareness among peers and train them how to handle stress. RESULTS: Of the 115 students, 42.6% experienced moderate to severe depression, 21.7% were afflicted with moderate to severe anxiety, and 62.7% suffered from sub-threshold to severe insomnia. PSS analysis showed moderate levels of stress among the study participants. A significant difference was detected between pre-and post-test mean scores of the PSS (p = 0.001) 8 weeks after the training program included psychological support for the students. CONCLUSIONS: The findings of this study showed that young people suffered of more than one psychological problems and highlighted the urgent need to develop interventions and preventive strategies to address mental health of college students.
Open Access Macedonian Journal of Medical Sciences, 2022
BACKGROUND: COVID-19 pandemic has demonstrated the impact of a major public health emergency on m... more BACKGROUND: COVID-19 pandemic has demonstrated the impact of a major public health emergency on mental health. AIM: The aim of the study was to assess psychological impact among university students and train them to raise mental health awareness among their peers during the pandemic. METHODS: This an online electronic survey that was carried out over the period of July to September 2020. Study participants were medical and paramedical university students representing students' union alliance of the Egyptian Youth Initiative. A convenient non-probability sampling method used for recruiting the study participants. Key mental health outcomes investigated 2 weeks before the survey were posttraumatic stress symptoms, symptoms of depression using Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9), anxiety using Generalized Anxiety Disorder scale (GAD-7), insomnia using Insomnia Severity Index, and perceived stress using Perceived Stress Scale (PSS). Based on the preliminary analysis of the online questionnaires, a PhD qualified psychiatrist was assigned to develop an online psychosocial support to the volunteers' students (n = 60) to be facilitators for raising mental awareness among peers and train them how to handle stress. RESULTS: Of the 115 students, 42.6% experienced moderate to severe depression, 21.7% were afflicted with moderate to severe anxiety, and 62.7% suffered from sub-threshold to severe insomnia. PSS analysis showed moderate levels of stress among the study participants. A significant difference was detected between pre-and post-test mean scores of the PSS (p = 0.001) 8 weeks after the training program included psychological support for the students. CONCLUSIONS: The findings of this study showed that young people suffered of more than one psychological problems and highlighted the urgent need to develop interventions and preventive strategies to address mental health of college students.