Abstract
AIM This study aimed to evaluate the psychological response of the BHSc (1st to 4th years) and MHSc (1st to 2nd years) students from the Chiropractic and Complementary Medicine (CM) departments, at the Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Johannesburg, to the COVID-19 pandemic. This included depression, anxiety and stress. The secondary aim for this study was to compare the responses of the junior students (1st to 3rd years) to those of the senior students (4th to 6th years). The tertiary aim was to compare the responses of Chiropractic students to the CM students. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY This was an explorative, quantitative and contextual study. The sample students were based on a non-probability, voluntary response sampling strategy. The sample students were invited via email to complete an online questionnaire to determine their psychological responses to the 2021 COVID-19 pandemic. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION A total of 201 responses were collected during this study. The data for depression indicated that 50.2% (n=101) scored within the normal ranges, 15.4% (n=31) scored within the mild ranges, 16.4% (n=33) scored within the moderate ranges and 17.9% (n=36) scored within the severe to extremely severe ranges. With regards to anxiety, 46.8% (n=94) of students scored within normal ranges, 9.5% (n=19) of students scored within mild ranges, 21.9% (n=44) of students scored within moderate ranges and 21.8% (n=44) of students scored within the severe to extremely severe ranges of anxiety. Lastly, 49.3% (n=99) of students scored within normal ranges of stress, 14.9% (n=30) of students scored within mild ranges, 17.9% (n=36) of students scored within moderate ranges and 17.9% (n=36) of students scored within the severe and extremely severe ranges. CONCLUSION The results collected showed that the mean score for depression, anxiety and stress fell within the “mild” categories for each construct. Although the mean scores were within the “mild” categories, when looking closer at all three construct, 34.3% of all the students that completed the questionnaire fell within the “moderate” to “extremely severe” ranges of depression, 43.7% of students fell within the “moderate” to “extremely severe” ranges for anxiety and 35.8% of students fell within the “moderate” to “extremely severe’’ ranges for stress. Although the majority of students fell within the ‘normal” to “mild” ranges for all vi constructs, some students have experienced more severe psychological responses to the COVID-19 pandemic and these students could benefit from additional psychological support.
M.Tech. (Chiropractic)