BACKGROUND

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a large impact on global mental health including anxiety and depression rates, many factors affected the vulnerability to these psychological conditions amongst university students.

AIM

To explore the level of anxiety and depression of university students living in Jordan.

METHODS

A cross-sectional study design was conducted in which an electronic survey was created and distributed, university students residing in Jordan participated in the study.

RESULTS

A total of 1241 students were enrolled in the study. The mean anxiety score among males and females was (9.68 (SD = 4.10)) and (10.46 (SD = 4.14)), respectively. 42.1% of males had "abnormal" anxiety score compared to 48.4% females. The mean depression score among males (7.77 (SD = 4.31)) was similar to that for the females (7.64 (SD = 4.14)), and 26.0% of the males had "abnormal" depression score compared to 22.6% of the females. Factors affecting anxiety scores included younger age, being a female, taking medication/s, or drinking two cups of coffee or more a day.

CONCLUSION

With 46% and 24% of students suffering from abnormal anxiety and depression respectively, it is important for education policy makers to take immediate measures to allocate students in need of psychological assessment and help to deliver suitable interventions.