Mental health of students amidst the COVID-19 pandemic: An empirical study

Purpose: Considering the severity of the global outbreak of coronavirus (COVID-19) on the whole of humanity,
particularly in this case on the physical and mental health of students, this study strives to explore the role of
financial worries, employment anxiety and COVID-19 knowledge on depression and mental health among students
in Bangladesh.
Design/methodology/approach: In the study, a deductive reasoning approach was employed, together with a selfadministered
questionnaire survey. Questionnaires were sent to the respondents via different social media and
by email by creating a Google form link. We finally received 387 responses students aged over 18 years who had
internet access in order to complete the survey. To analyze the data, structural equation modeling via AMOS was
used.
Findings: The results showed that employment anxiety, financial worry, and knowledge on COVID-19 positively
influence depression, and finally depression negatively influences the mental health of the students. Thus, our
findings supported all of the proposed hypotheses.
Originality/value: The research enriches the existing literature pool by contributing empirical substantiation on the
role of employment anxiety, financial worries and knowledge of COVID-19 in depression, and the impact of
depression on mental health.