Article Sidebar

Submitted
October 25, 2022
Accepted
December 1, 2022
Published
December 29, 2022
Download
Download PDF
Statistic
Read Counter : 209

Main Article Content

Abstract

Background: The Coronavirus Disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic in 2020 led to schools shutting down worldwide. Indefinite lockdowns forced many educational institutions to transition to online instruction. Learning, not only in isolation but also in some form of quarantine and fear of contracting a killer disease with limited to no social activities for many students in many countries, must have been a huge undertaking. This study explored the impact of online learning in isolation on students’ mental health.


Methods: A literature review was conducted using peer-reviewed journal articles published between 2020 and 2021 that provided full access. Initially, a search was conducted with the Google search engine using the words “mental health, Covid-19, and mental health.” This was done to explore the literature available on the subject under review.


Results: The Covid-19 pandemic has adversely affected the mental health of both tertiary and high school students. Although the sources vary, online learning has been identified as a significant contributing factor.


Conclusion: As much as technology provides platforms for socialization, face-to-face interactions provide opportunities for shared moments and interactions coupled with emotional contagion. Recommendations for students’ mental wellness/care during a pandemic and remote learning are provided.

Keywords

Covid-19 remote learning online learning mental health mental wellness

Article Details

How to Cite
Chileya, P. (2022). Pandemic-Induced Online Learning and its Impact on Mental Health of High School and Tertiary Students. Pan-African Journal of Health and Environmental Science, 1(2), 69–82. https://doi.org/10.56893/ajhes.2022-v1i2.256
Download Citation
Endnote/Zotero/Mendeley (RIS)
BibTeX

References

  1. Aggarwal, S. (2021). The psychological impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on high school students. Indian Journal of Health & Wellbeing, 12(2), 236 – 239.
  2. Akpınar, E. (2021).The effect of online learning on tertiary level students mental health during the COVID-19 Lockdown. The European Journal of Social & Behavioural Sciences, 30(1), 52-62. https://doi.org/10.15405/ejsbs.288
  3. Alam, M. (2022). Mental health impact of online learning: A look into university students in Brunei Darussalam. Asian Journal of Psychiatry, 67, 102933. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ajp.2021.102933
  4. Alibudbud, R. (2021). On online learning and mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic: Perspectives from the Philippines. Asian Journal of Psychiatry, 66, 102867. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ajp.2021.102867
  5. American Psychological Association (n.d.). Anxiety. apa.org. Retrieved November 29, 2022, from https://www.apa.org/topics/anxiety#:~:text=Anxiety%20is%20an%20emotion%20characterized,certain%20situations%20out%20of%20worry
  6. Asanov, I., Flores, F., McKenzie, D., Mensmann, M., & Schulte, M. (2021). Remote-learning, time-use, and mental health of Ecuadorian high-school students during the COVID-19 quarantine. World development, 138, 105225.
  7. Barrot, J. S., Llenares, I.I. & del Rosario, L. S. (2021). Students’ online learning challenges during the pandemic and how they cope with them: The case of the Philippines. Education and Information Technologies, 26, 7321–7338. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10639-021-10589-x
  8. Chen, T. & Lucock, M. (2022). The mental health of university students during the COVID-19 pandemic: An online survey in the UK. PLoS ONE 17(1): e0262562. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0262562
  9. Chu, Y. H., & Li, Y. C. (2022). The impact of online learning on physical and mental health in University Students during the COVID-19 Pandemic. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 19(5), 2966. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph1905296
  10. Crisp, R. (2015). Well-being. In E. N. Zalta (Ed.), Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/well-being/
  11. Dawel, A., Shou, Y., Smithson, M, Cherbuin, N., Banfield, M., Calear, A. L., Farrer, L. M., Gray, D., Gulliver, A., Housen, T., McCallum, S. M., Morse, A. R., Murray, K, Newman, E., Rodney, H. R. M. & Batterham, P. J. (2020). The effect of COVID-19 on mental health and wellbeing in a representative sample of Australian adults. Frontiers in Psychiatry, 11, 579985. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2020.579985
  12. Ferdous, A. U., & Shifat, N. F. (2020). Dealing with mental health in online learning: A retrospect on ELT teachers and EFL learners during COVID-19 pandemic. REiLA, Journal of Research and Innovation in Language, 2(3), 101-107. https://doi.org/10.31849/reila.v2i3.5217
  13. Friedman, C. (2020). Students’ major online learning challenges amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Journal of Pedagogy Sociology. Psychology, 1(1), 45-52.
  14. Gadi, N., Saleh, S., Johnson, J. A. & Trinidade, A. (2022). The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the lifestyle and behaviors, mental health and education of students studying healthcare-related courses at a British University. BMC Med Educ, 22, 115. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12909-022-03179-z
  15. Garcia, A., Powell, G.B., Arnold, D., Ibarra, L., Pietrucha, M., Thorson, M.K., Verhelle, A., Wade, N.B., & Webb, S. (2021). Learned helplessness and mental health issues related to distance learning due to COVID-19. Extended Abstracts of the 2021 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems. https://doi.org/10.1145/3411763.3451526
  16. Heng, K., & Sol, K. (2021). Online learning during COVID-19: Key challenges and suggestions to enhance effectiveness. Cambodian Journal of Educational Research, 1(1), 3-16.
  17. https://doi.org/10.1080/09720502.2021.1889780
  18. Idris, F., Zulkipli, I. N., Abdul-Mumin, K. H., Ahmad, S. R., Mitha, S., Rahman, H. A., Rajabalaya, R., David, S. R. & Naing, L., 2021. Academic experiences, physical and mental health impact of COVID-19 pandemic on students and lecturers in health care education. BMC Med Educ, 21, 542. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12909-021-02968-2
  19. Ihm, L., Zhang, H., van Vijfeijken, A. & Waugh, M.G. (2021), Impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on the health of university students. International Journal of Health Planning Management, 36(3), 618-627. https://doi.org/10.1002/hpm.3145
  20. Jaguga, F., & Kwobah, E. (2020). Mental health response to the COVID-19 pandemic in Kenya: A review. International Journal for Mental Health Systems, 14(68). https://doi.org/10.1186/s13033-020-00400-8
  21. Kang, S., Sun, Y., Zhang, X., Sun, F., Wang, B., & Zhu, W. (2021). Is physical activity associated with mental health among Chinese adolescents during isolation in COVID-19 pandemic? Journal of Epidemiology and Global Health, 11(1), 26–33. https://doi.org/10.2991/jegh.k.200908.001
  22. Korndörffer, L., White, C. & Mackelprang, J. L. (2022). Psychological first aid principles within a community-led, arts initiative: Lessons from the blacksmiths' tree. Disasters. Accepted Author Manuscript. https://doi.org/10.1111/disa.12564
  23. Krishnamurthy, S. (2020). The future of business education: A commentary in the shadow of the COVID-19 pandemic. Journal of Business Research, 117, 1-5. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2020.05.034.
  24. Landi, G., Pakenham, K. I., Boccolini, G., Grandi, S. & Tossani, E. (2020). Health anxiety and mental health outcome during COVID-19 lockdown in Italy: The mediating and moderating roles of psychological flexibility. Frontiers in Psychology 11, 2195. https://doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2020.02195
  25. Lee, J. (2020). Mental health effects of school closures during COVID-19. The Lancet Child and Adolescent Health, 4 (6), 421. https://doi.org/10.1016/S2352-4642(20)30109-7
  26. Magson, N. R., Freeman, J. Y., Rapee, R. M., Richardson, C. E., Oar, E. L., & Fardouly, J. (2021). Risk and protective factors for prospective changes in adolescent mental health during the COVID-19 Pandemic. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 50(1), 44-57. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-020-01332-9
  27. Martin, A. J. (2014). Interpersonal relationships and students’ academic and non-academic development: What outcomes peers, parents, and teachers do and do not impact. In D. Zandvliet., P. den Brok., T. Mainhard., & J. Tartwijk (Eds). Interpersonal Relationships in Education: From Theory to Practice (pp. 9-24). Sense Publishers.
  28. Martin, A. J. (2020). How to Optimize Online Learning in the Age of Coronavirus (COVID-19): A 5-point Guide for Educators. University of New South Wales. https://newsroom.unsw.edu.au/news/social-affairs/how-optimise-online-learning-age-coronavirus
  29. Martin, A. J., & Dowson, M. (2009). Interpersonal relationships, motivation, engagement and achievement: Yields for theory, current issues and practice. Review of Educational Research, 79 (1), 327-365. https://doi.org/10.312/0034654308325583
  30. Martin, A. J., & Evans, P. (2019). Load reduction instruction: Sequencing explicit instruction and guided discovery to enhance students’ motivation, engagement, learning, and achievement. In S. Tindall-Ford, S. Agostinho, & J. Sweller (Eds). Advances in Cognitive Load Theory: Rethinking Teaching (pp 15-29). Routledge.
  31. Mheidly N, Fares M. Y. & Fares, J (2020). Coping with stress and burnout associated with telecommunication and online learning. Frontiers in Public Health, 8, 574969. doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2020.574969
  32. Pedersen, B. K. & Saltin, B. (2015). Exercise as medicine – Evidence for prescribing exercise as therapy in 26 different chronic diseases. Scandinavian Journal of Medicine & Science in Sports, 25: 1-72. https://doi.org/10.1111/sms.12581
  33. Priyanka, H., Azizur, R. & Basant, A. (2021). A cross-sectional study of anxiety, stress, perception and mental health towards online learning of school children in India during COVID-19. Journal of Interdisciplinary Mathematics, 24(2), 411-424.
  34. Rajkumar R. P. (2020). COVID-19 and mental health: A review of the existing literature. Asian Journal of psychiatry, 52, 102066. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ajp.2020.102066
  35. Russell, G. & Lightman, S. (2019). The human stress response. Nature Review Endocrinology 15, 525–534. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41574-019-0228-0
  36. Salari, N., Hosseinian-Far, A., Jalali, R., Vaisi-Raygani, A., Rasoulpoor, S. & Khaledi-Paveh, B. (2020). Prevalence of stress, anxiety, depression among the general population during the COVID-19 pandemic: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Global Health, 16 (57) https://doi.org/10.1186/s12992-020-00589-w
  37. Schneiderman, N., Ironson, G., & Siegel, S. D. (2005). Stress and health: Psychological, behavioral, and biological determinants. Annual Review of Clinical Psychology, 1, 607–628. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.clinpsy.1.102803.144141
  38. Son, C., Hegde, S., Smith, A., Wang, X., & Sasangohar, F. (2020). Effects of COVID-19 on college students' mental health in the United States: Interview survey study. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 22(9), e21279. https://doi.org/10.2196/21279
  39. Sunawan, S., Amin, Z. N., Hafina, A., & Kholili, M. I. (2021). The differences of students’ burnout from level of education and duration daily online learning during COVID-19 pandemics. In Proceedings of the International Conference on Industrial Engineering and Operations Management, 3723-3729.
  40. Talevi, D., Socci, V., Carai, M., Carnaghi, G., Faleri, S., Trebbi, E., di Bernardo, A., Capelli, F., & Pacitti, F. (2020). Mental health outcomes of the COVID-19 pandemic. Rivista di Psichiatria, 55(3), 137–144. https://doi.org/10.1708/3382.33569
  41. United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF). (2021). State of the world’s children. Global Report. https://www.unicef.org/reports/state-worlds-children-2021
  42. Walters, T., Simkiss, N.J., Snowden, R.J. and Gray, N.S. (2022), Secondary school students’ perception of the online teaching experience during COVID-19: The impact on mental wellbeing and specific learning difficulties. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 92 (3), 843-860. https://doi.org/10.1111/bjep.12475
  43. White, S. C. (2008). But what is wellbeing? A framework for analysis in social and development policy and practice. Center for Development Studies. ESRC Research Group on Wellbeing in Developing Countries. University of Bath.
  44. World Health Organization (WHO). (2022). Mental health: Strengthening our response. https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/mental-health-strengthening-our-response
  45. Yates, A., Starkey, L., Egerton, B., & Flueggen, F. (2021). High school students’ experience of online learning during COVID-19: The influence of technology and pedagogy. Technology, Pedagogy and Education, 30(1), 59-73. https://doi.org/10.1080/1475939X.2020.1854337