Determinants of Mental Health Status of Youths during COVID-19 in Andoni Local Government Area of Rivers State

Abstract

This study investigated the determinants of mental health status of youths during COVID-19 in Andoni Local Government Area. The design for this study was descriptive cross sectional survey design. The population for the study consisted one hundred and sixteen thousand, eight hundred and twenty six youths (116, 826). The sample size of the study was 600 youths which was estimated using Taro Yamane’s method for a large population. Multistage sampling procedure was adopted for the study to select the sample. The instrument used for data collection was the questionnaire titled: “Determinants of Mental Health Status Questionnaire (DMHSQ). The validated instrument had a reliability coefficient of 0.74. which was high enough and was used for this study. The data was analysed using the Statistical Products for Service Solution (SPSS) version 25.0. The result of this study indicated that the determinants of mental health among youths during COVID-19 pandemic in Andoni Local Government Area. The result of this study showed that there was a very high positive relationship between age and mental health of youths during COVID-19 pandemic (r = 0.922). The result of this study also indicated that there was a very high positive relationship between gender and mental health of youths during COVID-19 pandemic (r = 0.931). The result of this study illustrated that there was a high positive relationship between religion and mental health of youths during COVID-19 pandemic (r = 0.887), and that there was a very high positive relationship between socioeconomic status and mental health of youths during COVID-19 pandemic (r = 0.949). The findings further revealed that there was a very high positive relationship between age and mental health of youths during COVID-19 pandemic (r = 0.943). The study concluded that the upsurge of COVID 19 to a large extent affected the mental and social health status of youths in Andoni Local Government Area of Rivers State, the following recommendations were made; government should implement mental health promotion/education efforts and keep adequate information about the content and benefits of evidence-based treatments and encourage males to participate in other potentially beneficial actions.