Psychological Health among Undergraduate Students of Private and Public Universities: A Comparative Study in Bangladesh

Abstract

The enhancement of mental distress among university students is becoming a public health concern because it has negatively affected the academic performance of the students that’s ultimate results may turn into any risky behavior, leading to suicide in severe cases. Based on the different types of university contexts, these psychological problems can be different, however there is hardly any study done in Bangladesh on this topic. This research work was designed to assess the psychological health among undergraduate students of private and public universities in Dhaka city of Bangladesh. A total of 230 undergraduate students (115 from private university students & 115 from public university students) from different universities of Bangladesh participated as participants. They completed a booklet including some socio-demographic information along with three Bangla version of questionnaires (i.e., anxiety, depression, and stress measuring questionnaires). The findings of the study suggested that students of public universities reported significantly more depression and stress than private university students. On the other side, students of private universities reported significantly more anxiety than public university students. The present researchers also found that anxiety and stress varied according to the variations of socio-economic status, while depression didn’t have any linkage to social-economic context. Besides, psychological health didn’t differ between male and female university students. To maintain the psychological health of university students, appropriate psychological intervention has to be introduced as soon as possible. The study revealed that the level of depression and stress is severe among private university students, however, the level of anxiety is severe among private university students. The applications of the findings have been interpreted based on previous studies.