Socio-demographic Characteristics of participants
A total of 338 students completed the survey and their median age was 23 years within the interquartile range of 21 to 25 years. Majority were male (n=213, 63%), undergraduates (n=288, 85%), single (n=297, 88%), and in their second year of study (n=113, 33%). The faculty of health sciences had the highest number (n=153, 45%) of participants (Table 1).
Table 1: Sociodemographic characteristics and factors associated with anxiety among students during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown (N=338)
VARIABLE
|
N (%)
|
ANXIETY
|
P-VALUE
|
YES
N (%)
|
NO
N (%)
|
All participants
|
179 (53)
|
159 (47)
|
|
Age (Median, range)
|
23 (21-25)
|
|
18-25
|
276 (82)
|
153 (85)
|
123 (77)
|
0.096
|
26-35
|
55 (16)
|
22 (13)
|
33 (21)
|
36 and above
|
7 (2)
|
4 (2)
|
3 (2)
|
Gender
|
|
Female
|
125 (37)
|
74 (41)
|
51 (32)
|
0.078
|
Male
|
213 (63)
|
105 (59)
|
108 (68)
|
Level of Study
|
|
Certificate
|
26 (8)
|
14 (8)
|
12 (8)
|
0.583
|
Diploma
|
18 (5)
|
12 (7)
|
6 (4)
|
Undergraduate
|
288 (85)
|
149 (83)
|
139 (87)
|
Postgraduate
|
6 (2)
|
4 (2)
|
2 (1)
|
Year of Study
|
|
Year 1
|
91 (27)
|
49 (27)
|
42 (26)
|
0.360
|
Year 2
|
113 (33)
|
65 (36)
|
48 (30)
|
Year 3
|
56 (17)
|
31 (17)
|
25 (16)
|
Year 4
|
40 (12)
|
19 (11)
|
21 (13)
|
Year 5
|
38 (11)
|
15 (8)
|
23 (14)
|
Faculty
|
|
Health Sciences
|
153 (45)
|
69 (39)
|
84 (53)
|
0.166
|
Management Sciences
|
25 (7)
|
14 (8)
|
11 (7)
|
Engineering
|
71 (21)
|
41 (23)
|
30 (19)
|
Natural resources and environmental sciences
|
23 (7)
|
14 (8)
|
9 (6)
|
Agriculture and Animal sciences
|
44 (13)
|
26 (15)
|
18 (11)
|
Education sciences
|
22 (7)
|
15 (8)
|
7 (4)
|
Residence
|
|
University Hall
|
18 (5)
|
12 (6)
|
6 (4)
|
0.456
|
Rented Room
|
118 (35)
|
60 (34)
|
58 (36)
|
Home
|
202 (60)
|
107 (60)
|
95 (60)52
|
Marital Status
|
|
Single
|
297 (88)
|
161 (90)
|
136 (86)
|
0.024
|
Married
|
37 (11)
|
14 (8)
|
23 (14)
|
Divorced
|
4 (1)
|
4 (2)
|
0 (0)
|
Person you live with
|
|
Alone
|
89 (26)
|
52 (29)
|
37 (23)
|
0.475
|
Family member
|
193 (57)
|
101 (56)
|
92 (58)
|
Relatives
|
19 (5)
|
10 (6)
|
9 (6)
|
Roommate
|
37 (11)
|
16 (9)
|
21 (13)
|
Source of information
|
|
Social media
|
191 (57)
|
94 (53)
|
97 (61)
|
0.355
|
Journal
|
11 (3)
|
4 (2)
|
7 (4)
|
Newspaper
|
2 (1)
|
1 (1)
|
1 (1)
|
Radio
|
46 (14)
|
27 (15
|
19 (12)
|
Television
|
83 (25)
|
50 (28)
|
33 (21)
|
YouTube
|
3 (1)
|
1 (1)
|
2 (1)
|
Concerns of Students
|
|
Coping with online classes
|
182 (54)
|
99 (55)
|
83 (52)
|
0.568
|
Inadequate internet facilities
|
212 (63)
|
129 (72)
|
83 (52)
|
0.000
|
Lecturers not competent in delivering class online
|
137 (41)
|
84 (47)
|
53 (33)
|
0.011
|
Not sure how assessments will be done
|
214 (63)
|
126 (70)
|
88 (55)
|
0.004
|
Not sure if I can complete this semester on time
|
225 (67)
|
134 (74)
|
91 (57)
|
0.001
|
Not sure if I will graduate on time
|
237 (70)
|
143 (80)
|
94 (59)
|
0.000
|
Not sure if I will get a job after graduation
|
126 (37)
|
86 (48)
|
40 (25)
|
0.000
|
Uncertainty about internship
|
181 (54)
|
115 (64)
|
66 (42)
|
0.000
|
Uncertainty in the academic semester/year
|
219 (65)
|
131 (73)
|
88 (55)
|
0.001
|
Not sure if school will ever progress again without more lockdown interruptions
|
212 (63)
|
131 (73)
|
81 (51)
|
0.000
|
Prevalence of Anxiety and associated factors among students
Overall, 53% (n=179) of the students had anxiety. Of those with anxiety, a majority were males (n=105, 59%), in the age group of 18–25 years (n=153, 85%), staying at home during the lockdown (n=107, 60%), and from the faculty of health sciences (n=69, 39%). Majority of the students (n=237, 70%) were most concerned about graduating on time (Table 1). Most students with anxiety had mild form (38%, n=127). Females had higher levels of severe anxiety (n=36, 29%) and moderate anxiety (n=38, 30%) compared to males (Figure 1).
On bivariate analysis, marital status (p=0.024), worry inadequate internet facilities to support remote learning (p=0.000), uncertainty of how assessments would be done (p=0.004), completion of the semester on time (p=0.001), and getting a job after school (p=0.000) were significantly associated with anxiety (Table 1).
On multivariate analysis, students concerned about inadequate internet facilities were twice more likely to have anxiety (aOR 2.0, 95% CI 1.1-3.7; p=0.021). There was no significant association of anxiety among students with sex, age, their year of study, faculty, or coping strategy (Table 2). Among those with anxiety, avoidance coping strategies had higher scores with a median of 8 (3-12) compared to other strategies (p<0.001) (Figure 2).
Table 2: Multivariate Logistic Regression showing factors associated with anxiety among students during COVID-19 pandemic lockdown
VARIABLE
|
AOR (95% Cl)
|
P-VALUE
|
Age (Median, range)
|
|
18-25
26-35
36 and above
|
1.0
0.6 (0.2-1.4)
1.8 (0.2-12.6)
|
0.270
0.521
|
Gender
|
|
Male
Female
|
1.0
1.6 (0.9-2.6)
|
0.093
|
Year of Study
|
|
Year 1
Year 2
Year 3
Year 4
Year 5
|
1.0
1.2 (0.6-2.5)
1.1 (0.4-2.4)
0.7 (0.3-1.8)
1.0 (0.3-2.9)
|
0.577
0.874
0.525
0.924
|
Faculty
|
|
Education sciences
Management Sciences
Engineering
Natural and environmental sciences
Agriculture and Animal sciences
Health Science
|
1.0
0.8 (0.2-3.2)
0.9 (0.2-3.0)
1.5 (0.3-6.9)
0.8 (0.2-2.8)
0.4 (0.1-1.5)
|
0.820
0.897
0.594
0.818
0.215
|
Marital Status
|
|
Single
Married
Divorced
|
1.0
0.9 (0.3-2.6)
1.0 (1.1-3.6)
|
0.888
0.745
|
Source of information
|
|
Newspaper
Journal
Radio
Social media
Television
YouTube
|
1.0
1.0 (0.0-36.9)
1.6 (0.1-50.6)
1.3 (0.0-39.8)
2.0 (0.1-60.1)
0.5 (0.036.0)
|
0.996
0.774
0.846
0.670
0.779
|
Concerns of Students
|
|
Coping with online classes
Inadequate internet facilities
Lecturers’ competence in delivering online
Not sure how assessments will be done
Not sure if I can complete this semester on time
Not sure if I will graduate on time
Not sure if I will get a job after graduation
Uncertainty about internship
Uncertainty in the academic semester/year
If school will ever progress again without more lockdown
|
1.0
2.0 (1.1-3.7)
0.9 (0.5-1.6)
0.9 (0.4-1.7)
1.2 (0.5-2.8)
1.6 (0.6-3.9)
1.5 (0.8-3.1)
1.2 (0.5-2.7)
0.7 (0.3-1.7)
1.3 (0.6-2.7)
|
0.021
0.747
0.753
0.611
0.291
0.153
0.540
0.509
0.367
|
THEMATIC ANALYSIS OF THE CHALLENGES FACED BY STUDENTS DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC LOCKDOWN
The in-depth interview revealed five main themes related to challenges faced by students during the lock down Figure 4.
Theme 1: Difficulties of online Learning
Subtheme: Prohibitive data costs. Most of the students were experiencing hardships to purchase data bundles to enable them attend classes online. The lockdown affected economy as well and majority of these students are dependent on their parents for financial support who were also not probably working. One of the students elaborated on how expensive it is to meet these costs.
“I use my little money to buy data and (…) a lecture going on for 3 hours that’s like 1GB which is 4,000 UGX [approx. 1 USD] and if you have 5 lectures, that is 20,000 UGX [about 5 USD] , which is a bit expensive.” (STUD-F, Female student at Faculty of Engineering)
Subtheme: Poor and erratic internet connectivity. The majority of the students were resident in the rural areas with poor internet connections that made smooth attendance of lectures almost impossible. This stressed out the students as they would miss important explanations of concepts from the lecturers.
“My network was really bad; literally you are in and out of the lecture and miss a lot of things” (STUD-V, Female student at Faculty of Health Sciences)
Subtheme: Unreliable electric power supply. In addition to the poor network, the situation was compounded by challenges of electric power connectivity for most students residing in the rural but also some urban areas. Some students totally stayed in areas dependent on solar power and others had unstable supply.
“The gadgets we use depend on power and we have power shortages and its pressing. There was a situation where I had 5% battery and the phone couldn’t go on zoom so I ended up missing the lecture” (STUD-Q, Male student at Faculty of Management Science)
Subtheme: Using the Learning management system (LMS). There were also reports of difficulties with access and navigation of the online learning management system (LMS) that was introduced by the university to ensure continuity of learning while at home.
“(…) the LMS system they introduced is not working to some of us and so for me I am not studying” (STUD-B, Male student at Faculty of natural resources and environmental sciences)
Subtheme: Commitment of Lecturers. Furthermore to constrain learning, limited engagement with lecturers was another concern put across by most students. They noted a lack of commitment from the lecturers to teach as some would continuously miss their scheduled online lectures.
“(…) the e-learning system they gave us is not reliable. The lectures are not consistent (…).” (STUD-B, Female student at Faculty of Agriculture and animal sciences)
Theme 2: Delayed Academic Progress
Subtheme: Timeliness of completing the programs. This was an area of apprehension for many students concerned of when they would finish their studies and move on to other ventures of life. The consecutive lockdowns made them lose hope on when the learning would become stable and continuous without interruptions.
“The course was supposed to take only two years but now I feel like it may even go up to 4 years, I am even fed up of studying. (STUD-Y, Female student at Faculty of Agriculture and animal sciences)
Subtheme: Uncertainty about resumption of school. Many students were not only worried about when they will finish but also the fact that they may never resume learning. They expressed growing concerns about when they would be able to return to school and finish their respective courses.
“It is really hard, you find that you are at home today, the other day, another day and we are not even sure when we shall go back to school, I keep asking myself, Shall we really go back to school?” (STUD-A, Male student at Faculty of natural resources and environmental sciences)
Subtheme: Accumulating workload. As well majority of the students were overwhelmed by the increasing workload and difficulty balancing academics, home and work responsibilities. Full learning wouldn’t continue entirely online especially for practical programs therefore many course units were left hanging before progressing into others. Like one student elaborated:
"We started semester 2 without doing examinations for semester 1 and that was another blow knowing you have all the 4 course units on your mind and still adding on others" (STUD-V, Female student at Faculty of health sciences)
Theme 3: Fear of COVID-19 vaccination
Some participants reported fear of taking the vaccine due to their uncertainties and unreliability mostly caused by insufficient knowledge on safety of the vaccine and spreading “infodemic” about the vaccine's safety and effectiveness. As majority of the students relied on social media for their information during lockdown, this was an inevitable happening. One of the students vividly expressed their fears of the vaccine:
"The vaccine is so dangerous according to me. I am so scared about the vaccine, because I hear in the news, first of all when you receive the vaccine when you have the virus you die. If you get vaccine when you have some other diseases with in you, you might die or have some other complications" (STUD-E, Female student at Faculty of Management sciences)
Theme 4: Contracting COVID-19
The fear of COVID-19 ravaging the globe didn’t spare majority of the students as well. There was heightened fear among almost all students of either them or their loved ones contracting COVID-19 as many deaths were being recorded and broadcasted over news every other day. The fear was even heightened among those that experienced COVID-19 related symptoms like one student narrated:
“I was sick with cough, flue and back pain. I had everything, I was down, but I didn’t go for the COVID-19 test. The person I was staying with, after sometime got the same symptoms and for her, she went for the test and she tested Positive. I felt bad, I felt like I was going to die (…) I was seeing people dying and even the neighbor had passed on because of COVID-19” (STUD-A, Female student at Faculty of natural resources and environmental sciences)
Theme 5: Changes to daily routine
Almost all students experienced changes in one aspect of their daily routines and lifestyles. They mentioned having realised changes to their appetite as well as eating patterns and increased period of sleep time as a consequence of the various fears and worries as a result of the COVID-19 induced lockdown.
“I may go a day without eating because of the stress. I am the one who cooks but I even fail to eat the food”. (STUD-H, Female student at Faculty of Engineering)
“(…) I am finding a challenge of reading and concentrating on books while at home. (STUD-AA, Female student at Faculty of Health Sciences)
THE COPING STRATEGIES USED BY STUDENTS DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC LOCKDOWN
To contain the stress all students employed a coping strategy to avoid break down. From our interactions, several coping strategies to the lockdown induced stress and anxiety were identified from the responses of the study participants.
Theme 1: Support seeking
The respondents acknowledged seeking out family and social support whenever they felt overwhelmed to share their experiences, get guidance or counselling to go through whatever situation was pressing at the time. The common refuge was parents and friends for all the respondents.
“(…) basically I talk to someone, my big brother, or my mum or call a friend…” (STUD-R, Female student at Faculty of Agriculture and Animal Sciences)
Theme 2: Relaxation
The other coping measure employed was relaxation. The measures included; watching movies/TV, listening to music, chatting with a friend(s) physically or online via social media, reading novels, playing games, exercising and taking a walk.
“I go and watch a movie, play games (…) I try so hard to engage in craft work, keep busy, do some exercise (…) I reach out to some friends over calls and WhatsApp video call but some are offline and we can’t reach them ” (STUD-J, Female student at Faculty of Science and Education)
Theme 3: Problem solving
Facing the problem head-on and coming up with solutions to deal with a problem or anxiety was another coping strategy. Some respondents did something about their situation and sought solutions to whatever problem they faced.
“I have a project I am doing about fish farming so I spend most of my time at my fish pond, I don’t go anywhere and that helps me not to think about COVID-19” (STUD-S, Female student at Faculty of Agriculture and Animal Science)
Theme 4: Escape/avoidance
Some students opted to stay away from news, events or situations that added on their stress or which they thought increased their risk of contracting or transmitting COVID-19. These included avoiding CoVID-19 related news updates and staying away from social gatherings. However, none of the respondents engaged in self-harm behavior though there were unhealthy coping behaviors reported.
“I have tried as much as I can to stay away from updates concerning COVID-19 (…) I don’t want anything to do with COVID updates” (STUD-D, Female student at Faculty of Natural resources and environmental sciences).