Coping with the COVID-19 pandemic: A cross-sectional study to investigate how mental health, lifestyle, and socio-demographic factors shape students' quality of life
The high prevalence of COVID-19 has had an impact on the Quality of Life (QOL) of people across the world, particularly students. The purpose of this study was to investigate the social, lifestyle, and mental health aspects that are associated with QOL among university students in Lebanon. A cross-s...
Gespeichert in:
| Veröffentlicht in: | PloS one 2023-07, Vol.18 (7), p.e0288358-e0288358 |
|---|---|
| Hauptverfasser: | , , , , , |
| Format: | Artikel |
| Sprache: | eng |
| Schlagworte: | |
| Online-Zugang: | Volltext |
| Tags: |
Tag hinzufügen
Keine Tags, Fügen Sie den ersten Tag hinzu!
|
| container_end_page | e0288358 |
|---|---|
| container_issue | 7 |
| container_start_page | e0288358 |
| container_title | PloS one |
| container_volume | 18 |
| creator | Bou-Hamad, Imad Hoteit, Reem Hijazi, Sahar Ayna, Dinah Romani, Maya El Morr, Christo |
| description | The high prevalence of COVID-19 has had an impact on the Quality of Life (QOL) of people across the world, particularly students. The purpose of this study was to investigate the social, lifestyle, and mental health aspects that are associated with QOL among university students in Lebanon.
A cross-sectional study design was implemented using a convenience sampling approach. Data collection took place between November 2021 and February 2022, involving 329 undergraduate and graduate students from private and public universities. Quality of life was assessed using the Quality-of-Life Scale (QOLS). Descriptive statistics, Cronbach's alpha, and linear regression-based methods were used to analyze the association between QOL and socio-demographic, health-related, lifestyle, and mental health factors. The significance level for statistical analysis was predetermined at α = 0.05.
The study participants' average (SD) QOL score was 76.03 (15.6) with a Cronbach alpha of 0.911. QOL was positively associated with importance of religion in daily decisions (β = 6.40, p = 0.006), household income (β = 5.25, p = 0.017), general health ratings (β Excellent/poor = 23.52, p |
| doi_str_mv | 10.1371/journal.pone.0288358 |
| format | Article |
| fullrecord | <record><control><sourceid>gale_plos_</sourceid><recordid>TN_cdi_plos_journals_2840216941</recordid><sourceformat>XML</sourceformat><sourcesystem>PC</sourcesystem><galeid>A757855021</galeid><sourcerecordid>A757855021</sourcerecordid><originalsourceid>FETCH-LOGICAL-c627t-53eb7a84567f813f79631366103e082850379aa2620afa9a7230ee321d18af8e3</originalsourceid><addsrcrecordid>eNqNk9tq3DAQhk1padK0b1BaQaEHiLc62Jbcm7JsTwuBhR5yKyZeyVbQWo4lJ90H6ntWu-uE3ZKLogsLzzf_DKN_kuQ5wRPCOHl_6Ya-BTvpXKsmmArBcvEgOSYlo2lBMXu4dz9Knnh_iXHORFE8To4YzzhhQhwnf2auM22NbkxoUGgUmi3O559SUqIO2qVameoDmqKqd96nXlXBuFgT-TAs1yg4ZNpr5YOpISjUuBu0Um2I8UaBDc0pskbH8NqqUxTVkHeVcWlUdXUPXWMqpKEKrvfIN9CprWwU8G_Q1QDWhDVyeqvxNHmkwXr1bPyeJL--fP45-5aeLb7OZ9OztCooD2nO1AUHkeUF14IwzcuCEVYUBDOFBRU5ZrwEoHEkoKEEThlWilGyJAK0UOwkebnT7azzcpywl1RkmJKizEgkPo7EcLFSyyq224OVXW9W0K-lAyMPI61pZO2uZewhFyUtosLbUaF3V0Mcj1wZXylroVVu2BYjmJRZziP66h_0_pZGqgarpGm1i4Wrjaic8pyLPI9kpCb3UPFsHzl6SJv4_yDh3UFCZIL6HWoYvJfzH9__n12cH7Kv99idU7yzw8Za_hDMduDWfb3Sd1MmWG5W4HYacrMCclyBmPZi_4Xukm49z_4C5EsB7g</addsrcrecordid><sourcetype>Open Website</sourcetype><iscdi>true</iscdi><recordtype>article</recordtype><pqid>2840216941</pqid></control><display><type>article</type><title>Coping with the COVID-19 pandemic: A cross-sectional study to investigate how mental health, lifestyle, and socio-demographic factors shape students' quality of life</title><source>DOAJ Directory of Open Access Journals</source><source>Public Library of Science (PLoS) Journals Open Access</source><source>EZB-FREE-00999 freely available EZB journals</source><source>PubMed Central</source><source>Free Full-Text Journals in Chemistry</source><creator>Bou-Hamad, Imad ; Hoteit, Reem ; Hijazi, Sahar ; Ayna, Dinah ; Romani, Maya ; El Morr, Christo</creator><contributor>Adhikari, Kishor</contributor><creatorcontrib>Bou-Hamad, Imad ; Hoteit, Reem ; Hijazi, Sahar ; Ayna, Dinah ; Romani, Maya ; El Morr, Christo ; Adhikari, Kishor</creatorcontrib><description>The high prevalence of COVID-19 has had an impact on the Quality of Life (QOL) of people across the world, particularly students. The purpose of this study was to investigate the social, lifestyle, and mental health aspects that are associated with QOL among university students in Lebanon.
A cross-sectional study design was implemented using a convenience sampling approach. Data collection took place between November 2021 and February 2022, involving 329 undergraduate and graduate students from private and public universities. Quality of life was assessed using the Quality-of-Life Scale (QOLS). Descriptive statistics, Cronbach's alpha, and linear regression-based methods were used to analyze the association between QOL and socio-demographic, health-related, lifestyle, and mental health factors. The significance level for statistical analysis was predetermined at α = 0.05.
The study participants' average (SD) QOL score was 76.03 (15.6) with a Cronbach alpha of 0.911. QOL was positively associated with importance of religion in daily decisions (β = 6.40, p = 0.006), household income (β = 5.25, p = 0.017), general health ratings (β Excellent/poor = 23.52, p <0.001), access to private counseling (β = 4.05, p = 0.020), physical exercise (β = 6.67, p <0.001), and a healthy diet (β = 4.62, p = 0.026); and negatively associated with cigarette smoking (β increased = -6.25, p = 0.030), internet use (β ≥4 hours = -7.01, p = 0.005), depression (β = -0.56, p = 0.002) and stress (β = -0.93, p <0.001).
In conclusion, this study reveals the key factors that positively and negatively influence students' quality of life (QOL). Factors such as religion, higher income, and a healthy diet improve QOL, while depression, stress, excessive internet use, and cigarette smoking negatively impact it. Universities should prioritize initiatives like physical activity promotion, affordable nutritious options, destigmatizing mental health, counseling services, and self-help interventions to support student well-being and enhance their QOL.</description><identifier>ISSN: 1932-6203</identifier><identifier>EISSN: 1932-6203</identifier><identifier>DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0288358</identifier><identifier>PMID: 37471388</identifier><language>eng</language><publisher>United States: Public Library of Science</publisher><subject>Cigarette smoking ; Cigarettes ; Colleges & universities ; Computer and Information Sciences ; Coping (Psychology) ; COVID-19 ; COVID-19 vaccines ; Cross-sectional studies ; Data collection ; Demographics ; Demography ; Diet ; Forecasts and trends ; Health aspects ; Health behavior ; Immunization ; Income ; Internet ; Medicine and Health Sciences ; Mental depression ; Mental health ; Pandemics ; People and Places ; Physical activity ; Physical exercise ; Quality assessment ; Quality of life ; Religion ; Smoking ; Social Sciences ; Sociodemographics ; Statistical analysis ; Students ; University students ; Well being ; Young adults</subject><ispartof>PloS one, 2023-07, Vol.18 (7), p.e0288358-e0288358</ispartof><rights>Copyright: © 2023 Bou-Hamad et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.</rights><rights>COPYRIGHT 2023 Public Library of Science</rights><rights>2023 Bou-Hamad et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ (the “License”), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.</rights><rights>2023 Bou-Hamad et al 2023 Bou-Hamad et al</rights><rights>2023 Bou-Hamad et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ (the “License”), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.</rights><lds50>peer_reviewed</lds50><oa>free_for_read</oa><woscitedreferencessubscribed>false</woscitedreferencessubscribed><citedby>FETCH-LOGICAL-c627t-53eb7a84567f813f79631366103e082850379aa2620afa9a7230ee321d18af8e3</citedby><cites>FETCH-LOGICAL-c627t-53eb7a84567f813f79631366103e082850379aa2620afa9a7230ee321d18af8e3</cites><orcidid>0000-0003-0344-673X</orcidid></display><links><openurl>$$Topenurl_article</openurl><openurlfulltext>$$Topenurlfull_article</openurlfulltext><thumbnail>$$Tsyndetics_thumb_exl</thumbnail><linktopdf>$$Uhttps://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10358926/pdf/$$EPDF$$P50$$Gpubmedcentral$$Hfree_for_read</linktopdf><linktohtml>$$Uhttps://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10358926/$$EHTML$$P50$$Gpubmedcentral$$Hfree_for_read</linktohtml><link.rule.ids>230,314,724,777,781,861,882,2915,23847,27905,27906,53772,53774,79349,79350</link.rule.ids><backlink>$$Uhttps://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/37471388$$D View this record in MEDLINE/PubMed$$Hfree_for_read</backlink></links><search><contributor>Adhikari, Kishor</contributor><creatorcontrib>Bou-Hamad, Imad</creatorcontrib><creatorcontrib>Hoteit, Reem</creatorcontrib><creatorcontrib>Hijazi, Sahar</creatorcontrib><creatorcontrib>Ayna, Dinah</creatorcontrib><creatorcontrib>Romani, Maya</creatorcontrib><creatorcontrib>El Morr, Christo</creatorcontrib><title>Coping with the COVID-19 pandemic: A cross-sectional study to investigate how mental health, lifestyle, and socio-demographic factors shape students' quality of life</title><title>PloS one</title><addtitle>PLoS One</addtitle><description>The high prevalence of COVID-19 has had an impact on the Quality of Life (QOL) of people across the world, particularly students. The purpose of this study was to investigate the social, lifestyle, and mental health aspects that are associated with QOL among university students in Lebanon.
A cross-sectional study design was implemented using a convenience sampling approach. Data collection took place between November 2021 and February 2022, involving 329 undergraduate and graduate students from private and public universities. Quality of life was assessed using the Quality-of-Life Scale (QOLS). Descriptive statistics, Cronbach's alpha, and linear regression-based methods were used to analyze the association between QOL and socio-demographic, health-related, lifestyle, and mental health factors. The significance level for statistical analysis was predetermined at α = 0.05.
The study participants' average (SD) QOL score was 76.03 (15.6) with a Cronbach alpha of 0.911. QOL was positively associated with importance of religion in daily decisions (β = 6.40, p = 0.006), household income (β = 5.25, p = 0.017), general health ratings (β Excellent/poor = 23.52, p <0.001), access to private counseling (β = 4.05, p = 0.020), physical exercise (β = 6.67, p <0.001), and a healthy diet (β = 4.62, p = 0.026); and negatively associated with cigarette smoking (β increased = -6.25, p = 0.030), internet use (β ≥4 hours = -7.01, p = 0.005), depression (β = -0.56, p = 0.002) and stress (β = -0.93, p <0.001).
In conclusion, this study reveals the key factors that positively and negatively influence students' quality of life (QOL). Factors such as religion, higher income, and a healthy diet improve QOL, while depression, stress, excessive internet use, and cigarette smoking negatively impact it. Universities should prioritize initiatives like physical activity promotion, affordable nutritious options, destigmatizing mental health, counseling services, and self-help interventions to support student well-being and enhance their QOL.</description><subject>Cigarette smoking</subject><subject>Cigarettes</subject><subject>Colleges & universities</subject><subject>Computer and Information Sciences</subject><subject>Coping (Psychology)</subject><subject>COVID-19</subject><subject>COVID-19 vaccines</subject><subject>Cross-sectional studies</subject><subject>Data collection</subject><subject>Demographics</subject><subject>Demography</subject><subject>Diet</subject><subject>Forecasts and trends</subject><subject>Health aspects</subject><subject>Health behavior</subject><subject>Immunization</subject><subject>Income</subject><subject>Internet</subject><subject>Medicine and Health Sciences</subject><subject>Mental depression</subject><subject>Mental health</subject><subject>Pandemics</subject><subject>People and Places</subject><subject>Physical activity</subject><subject>Physical exercise</subject><subject>Quality assessment</subject><subject>Quality of life</subject><subject>Religion</subject><subject>Smoking</subject><subject>Social Sciences</subject><subject>Sociodemographics</subject><subject>Statistical analysis</subject><subject>Students</subject><subject>University students</subject><subject>Well being</subject><subject>Young adults</subject><issn>1932-6203</issn><issn>1932-6203</issn><fulltext>true</fulltext><rsrctype>article</rsrctype><creationdate>2023</creationdate><recordtype>article</recordtype><sourceid>ABUWG</sourceid><sourceid>AFKRA</sourceid><sourceid>AZQEC</sourceid><sourceid>BENPR</sourceid><sourceid>CCPQU</sourceid><sourceid>DWQXO</sourceid><sourceid>GNUQQ</sourceid><recordid>eNqNk9tq3DAQhk1padK0b1BaQaEHiLc62Jbcm7JsTwuBhR5yKyZeyVbQWo4lJ90H6ntWu-uE3ZKLogsLzzf_DKN_kuQ5wRPCOHl_6Ya-BTvpXKsmmArBcvEgOSYlo2lBMXu4dz9Knnh_iXHORFE8To4YzzhhQhwnf2auM22NbkxoUGgUmi3O559SUqIO2qVameoDmqKqd96nXlXBuFgT-TAs1yg4ZNpr5YOpISjUuBu0Um2I8UaBDc0pskbH8NqqUxTVkHeVcWlUdXUPXWMqpKEKrvfIN9CprWwU8G_Q1QDWhDVyeqvxNHmkwXr1bPyeJL--fP45-5aeLb7OZ9OztCooD2nO1AUHkeUF14IwzcuCEVYUBDOFBRU5ZrwEoHEkoKEEThlWilGyJAK0UOwkebnT7azzcpywl1RkmJKizEgkPo7EcLFSyyq224OVXW9W0K-lAyMPI61pZO2uZewhFyUtosLbUaF3V0Mcj1wZXylroVVu2BYjmJRZziP66h_0_pZGqgarpGm1i4Wrjaic8pyLPI9kpCb3UPFsHzl6SJv4_yDh3UFCZIL6HWoYvJfzH9__n12cH7Kv99idU7yzw8Za_hDMduDWfb3Sd1MmWG5W4HYacrMCclyBmPZi_4Xukm49z_4C5EsB7g</recordid><startdate>20230720</startdate><enddate>20230720</enddate><creator>Bou-Hamad, Imad</creator><creator>Hoteit, Reem</creator><creator>Hijazi, Sahar</creator><creator>Ayna, Dinah</creator><creator>Romani, Maya</creator><creator>El Morr, Christo</creator><general>Public Library of Science</general><scope>NPM</scope><scope>AAYXX</scope><scope>CITATION</scope><scope>IOV</scope><scope>ISR</scope><scope>3V.</scope><scope>7QG</scope><scope>7QL</scope><scope>7QO</scope><scope>7RV</scope><scope>7SN</scope><scope>7SS</scope><scope>7T5</scope><scope>7TG</scope><scope>7TM</scope><scope>7U9</scope><scope>7X2</scope><scope>7X7</scope><scope>7XB</scope><scope>88E</scope><scope>8AO</scope><scope>8C1</scope><scope>8FD</scope><scope>8FE</scope><scope>8FG</scope><scope>8FH</scope><scope>8FI</scope><scope>8FJ</scope><scope>8FK</scope><scope>ABJCF</scope><scope>ABUWG</scope><scope>AEUYN</scope><scope>AFKRA</scope><scope>ARAPS</scope><scope>ATCPS</scope><scope>AZQEC</scope><scope>BBNVY</scope><scope>BENPR</scope><scope>BGLVJ</scope><scope>BHPHI</scope><scope>C1K</scope><scope>CCPQU</scope><scope>COVID</scope><scope>D1I</scope><scope>DWQXO</scope><scope>FR3</scope><scope>FYUFA</scope><scope>GHDGH</scope><scope>GNUQQ</scope><scope>H94</scope><scope>HCIFZ</scope><scope>K9.</scope><scope>KB.</scope><scope>KB0</scope><scope>KL.</scope><scope>L6V</scope><scope>LK8</scope><scope>M0K</scope><scope>M0S</scope><scope>M1P</scope><scope>M7N</scope><scope>M7P</scope><scope>M7S</scope><scope>NAPCQ</scope><scope>P5Z</scope><scope>P62</scope><scope>P64</scope><scope>PATMY</scope><scope>PDBOC</scope><scope>PIMPY</scope><scope>PQEST</scope><scope>PQQKQ</scope><scope>PQUKI</scope><scope>PRINS</scope><scope>PTHSS</scope><scope>PYCSY</scope><scope>RC3</scope><scope>7X8</scope><scope>5PM</scope><orcidid>https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0344-673X</orcidid></search><sort><creationdate>20230720</creationdate><title>Coping with the COVID-19 pandemic: A cross-sectional study to investigate how mental health, lifestyle, and socio-demographic factors shape students' quality of life</title><author>Bou-Hamad, Imad ; Hoteit, Reem ; Hijazi, Sahar ; Ayna, Dinah ; Romani, Maya ; El Morr, Christo</author></sort><facets><frbrtype>5</frbrtype><frbrgroupid>cdi_FETCH-LOGICAL-c627t-53eb7a84567f813f79631366103e082850379aa2620afa9a7230ee321d18af8e3</frbrgroupid><rsrctype>articles</rsrctype><prefilter>articles</prefilter><language>eng</language><creationdate>2023</creationdate><topic>Cigarette smoking</topic><topic>Cigarettes</topic><topic>Colleges & universities</topic><topic>Computer and Information Sciences</topic><topic>Coping (Psychology)</topic><topic>COVID-19</topic><topic>COVID-19 vaccines</topic><topic>Cross-sectional studies</topic><topic>Data collection</topic><topic>Demographics</topic><topic>Demography</topic><topic>Diet</topic><topic>Forecasts and trends</topic><topic>Health aspects</topic><topic>Health behavior</topic><topic>Immunization</topic><topic>Income</topic><topic>Internet</topic><topic>Medicine and Health Sciences</topic><topic>Mental depression</topic><topic>Mental health</topic><topic>Pandemics</topic><topic>People and Places</topic><topic>Physical activity</topic><topic>Physical exercise</topic><topic>Quality assessment</topic><topic>Quality of life</topic><topic>Religion</topic><topic>Smoking</topic><topic>Social Sciences</topic><topic>Sociodemographics</topic><topic>Statistical analysis</topic><topic>Students</topic><topic>University students</topic><topic>Well being</topic><topic>Young adults</topic><toplevel>peer_reviewed</toplevel><toplevel>online_resources</toplevel><creatorcontrib>Bou-Hamad, Imad</creatorcontrib><creatorcontrib>Hoteit, Reem</creatorcontrib><creatorcontrib>Hijazi, Sahar</creatorcontrib><creatorcontrib>Ayna, Dinah</creatorcontrib><creatorcontrib>Romani, Maya</creatorcontrib><creatorcontrib>El Morr, Christo</creatorcontrib><collection>PubMed</collection><collection>CrossRef</collection><collection>Gale In Context: Opposing Viewpoints</collection><collection>Gale In Context: Science</collection><collection>ProQuest Central (Corporate)</collection><collection>Animal Behavior Abstracts</collection><collection>Bacteriology Abstracts (Microbiology B)</collection><collection>Biotechnology Research Abstracts</collection><collection>Nursing & Allied Health Database</collection><collection>Ecology Abstracts</collection><collection>Entomology Abstracts (Full archive)</collection><collection>Immunology Abstracts</collection><collection>Meteorological & Geoastrophysical Abstracts</collection><collection>Nucleic Acids Abstracts</collection><collection>Virology and AIDS Abstracts</collection><collection>Agricultural Science Collection</collection><collection>Health & Medical Collection</collection><collection>ProQuest Central (purchase pre-March 2016)</collection><collection>Medical Database (Alumni Edition)</collection><collection>ProQuest Pharma Collection</collection><collection>Public Health Database</collection><collection>Technology Research Database</collection><collection>ProQuest SciTech Collection</collection><collection>ProQuest Technology Collection</collection><collection>ProQuest Natural Science Collection</collection><collection>Hospital Premium Collection</collection><collection>Hospital Premium Collection (Alumni Edition)</collection><collection>ProQuest Central (Alumni) (purchase pre-March 2016)</collection><collection>Materials Science & Engineering Collection</collection><collection>ProQuest Central (Alumni Edition)</collection><collection>ProQuest One Sustainability</collection><collection>ProQuest Central UK/Ireland</collection><collection>Advanced Technologies & Aerospace Collection</collection><collection>Agricultural & Environmental Science Collection</collection><collection>ProQuest Central Essentials</collection><collection>Biological Science Collection</collection><collection>ProQuest Central</collection><collection>Technology Collection</collection><collection>Natural Science Collection</collection><collection>Environmental Sciences and Pollution Management</collection><collection>ProQuest One Community College</collection><collection>Coronavirus Research Database</collection><collection>ProQuest Materials Science Collection</collection><collection>ProQuest Central Korea</collection><collection>Engineering Research Database</collection><collection>Health Research Premium Collection</collection><collection>Health Research Premium Collection (Alumni)</collection><collection>ProQuest Central Student</collection><collection>AIDS and Cancer Research Abstracts</collection><collection>SciTech Premium Collection</collection><collection>ProQuest Health & Medical Complete (Alumni)</collection><collection>Materials Science Database</collection><collection>Nursing & Allied Health Database (Alumni Edition)</collection><collection>Meteorological & Geoastrophysical Abstracts - Academic</collection><collection>ProQuest Engineering Collection</collection><collection>ProQuest Biological Science Collection</collection><collection>Agricultural Science Database</collection><collection>Health & Medical Collection (Alumni Edition)</collection><collection>Medical Database</collection><collection>Algology Mycology and Protozoology Abstracts (Microbiology C)</collection><collection>Biological Science Database</collection><collection>Engineering Database</collection><collection>Nursing & Allied Health Premium</collection><collection>Advanced Technologies & Aerospace Database</collection><collection>ProQuest Advanced Technologies & Aerospace Collection</collection><collection>Biotechnology and BioEngineering Abstracts</collection><collection>Environmental Science Database</collection><collection>Materials Science Collection</collection><collection>Publicly Available Content Database</collection><collection>ProQuest One Academic Eastern Edition (DO NOT USE)</collection><collection>ProQuest One Academic</collection><collection>ProQuest One Academic UKI Edition</collection><collection>ProQuest Central China</collection><collection>Engineering Collection</collection><collection>Environmental Science Collection</collection><collection>Genetics Abstracts</collection><collection>MEDLINE - Academic</collection><collection>PubMed Central (Full Participant titles)</collection><jtitle>PloS one</jtitle></facets><delivery><delcategory>Remote Search Resource</delcategory><fulltext>fulltext</fulltext></delivery><addata><au>Bou-Hamad, Imad</au><au>Hoteit, Reem</au><au>Hijazi, Sahar</au><au>Ayna, Dinah</au><au>Romani, Maya</au><au>El Morr, Christo</au><au>Adhikari, Kishor</au><format>journal</format><genre>article</genre><ristype>JOUR</ristype><atitle>Coping with the COVID-19 pandemic: A cross-sectional study to investigate how mental health, lifestyle, and socio-demographic factors shape students' quality of life</atitle><jtitle>PloS one</jtitle><addtitle>PLoS One</addtitle><date>2023-07-20</date><risdate>2023</risdate><volume>18</volume><issue>7</issue><spage>e0288358</spage><epage>e0288358</epage><pages>e0288358-e0288358</pages><issn>1932-6203</issn><eissn>1932-6203</eissn><abstract>The high prevalence of COVID-19 has had an impact on the Quality of Life (QOL) of people across the world, particularly students. The purpose of this study was to investigate the social, lifestyle, and mental health aspects that are associated with QOL among university students in Lebanon.
A cross-sectional study design was implemented using a convenience sampling approach. Data collection took place between November 2021 and February 2022, involving 329 undergraduate and graduate students from private and public universities. Quality of life was assessed using the Quality-of-Life Scale (QOLS). Descriptive statistics, Cronbach's alpha, and linear regression-based methods were used to analyze the association between QOL and socio-demographic, health-related, lifestyle, and mental health factors. The significance level for statistical analysis was predetermined at α = 0.05.
The study participants' average (SD) QOL score was 76.03 (15.6) with a Cronbach alpha of 0.911. QOL was positively associated with importance of religion in daily decisions (β = 6.40, p = 0.006), household income (β = 5.25, p = 0.017), general health ratings (β Excellent/poor = 23.52, p <0.001), access to private counseling (β = 4.05, p = 0.020), physical exercise (β = 6.67, p <0.001), and a healthy diet (β = 4.62, p = 0.026); and negatively associated with cigarette smoking (β increased = -6.25, p = 0.030), internet use (β ≥4 hours = -7.01, p = 0.005), depression (β = -0.56, p = 0.002) and stress (β = -0.93, p <0.001).
In conclusion, this study reveals the key factors that positively and negatively influence students' quality of life (QOL). Factors such as religion, higher income, and a healthy diet improve QOL, while depression, stress, excessive internet use, and cigarette smoking negatively impact it. Universities should prioritize initiatives like physical activity promotion, affordable nutritious options, destigmatizing mental health, counseling services, and self-help interventions to support student well-being and enhance their QOL.</abstract><cop>United States</cop><pub>Public Library of Science</pub><pmid>37471388</pmid><doi>10.1371/journal.pone.0288358</doi><tpages>e0288358</tpages><orcidid>https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0344-673X</orcidid><oa>free_for_read</oa></addata></record> |
| fulltext | fulltext |
| identifier | ISSN: 1932-6203 |
| ispartof | PloS one, 2023-07, Vol.18 (7), p.e0288358-e0288358 |
| issn | 1932-6203 1932-6203 |
| language | eng |
| recordid | cdi_plos_journals_2840216941 |
| source | DOAJ Directory of Open Access Journals; Public Library of Science (PLoS) Journals Open Access; EZB-FREE-00999 freely available EZB journals; PubMed Central; Free Full-Text Journals in Chemistry |
| subjects | Cigarette smoking Cigarettes Colleges & universities Computer and Information Sciences Coping (Psychology) COVID-19 COVID-19 vaccines Cross-sectional studies Data collection Demographics Demography Diet Forecasts and trends Health aspects Health behavior Immunization Income Internet Medicine and Health Sciences Mental depression Mental health Pandemics People and Places Physical activity Physical exercise Quality assessment Quality of life Religion Smoking Social Sciences Sociodemographics Statistical analysis Students University students Well being Young adults |
| title | Coping with the COVID-19 pandemic: A cross-sectional study to investigate how mental health, lifestyle, and socio-demographic factors shape students' quality of life |
| url | https://sfx.bib-bvb.de/sfx_tum?ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&ctx_enc=info:ofi/enc:UTF-8&ctx_tim=2025-01-17T12%3A41%3A54IST&url_ver=Z39.88-2004&url_ctx_fmt=infofi/fmt:kev:mtx:ctx&rfr_id=info:sid/primo.exlibrisgroup.com:primo3-Article-gale_plos_&rft_val_fmt=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:journal&rft.genre=article&rft.atitle=Coping%20with%20the%20COVID-19%20pandemic:%20A%20cross-sectional%20study%20to%20investigate%20how%20mental%20health,%20lifestyle,%20and%20socio-demographic%20factors%20shape%20students'%20quality%20of%20life&rft.jtitle=PloS%20one&rft.au=Bou-Hamad,%20Imad&rft.date=2023-07-20&rft.volume=18&rft.issue=7&rft.spage=e0288358&rft.epage=e0288358&rft.pages=e0288358-e0288358&rft.issn=1932-6203&rft.eissn=1932-6203&rft_id=info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0288358&rft_dat=%3Cgale_plos_%3EA757855021%3C/gale_plos_%3E%3Curl%3E%3C/url%3E&disable_directlink=true&sfx.directlink=off&sfx.report_link=0&rft_id=info:oai/&rft_pqid=2840216941&rft_id=info:pmid/37471388&rft_galeid=A757855021&rfr_iscdi=true |