Perceptions of mental health and need satisfaction/frustration among rural university students

Abstract

Objective

Because of COVID-19, higher education changed as institutions went remote and students’ mental health was challenged. Rural universities were disproportionately affected because of limited Internet access. The purpose of this study was to investigate the psychological need satisfaction/frustration and mental health among rural college students during this pandemic.

Participants

Six hundred ninety-eight students (M_age = 22.15 ± 2.55) at a rural South-eastern university were recruited.

Methods

Participants completed a survey examining stress, anxiety, need satisfaction/frustration and previous experience with online courses.

Results

Anxiety, autonomy and competence frustration were found to predict 60% of the variance of stress. Another regression analysis found stress, autonomy, competence, and relatedness frustration to predict 70% of the anxiety variance.

Conclusions

Students are frustrated due to the lack of control and restrictions affecting their social interaction. Understanding the relationship between need satisfaction/frustration and mental health can aid university administration in developing interventions that address rural students’ needs.

Keywords:

• College students
• COVID-19
• mental health
• rural

Conflict of interest disclosure

The authors have no conflicts of interest to report. The authors confirm that the research presented in this article met the ethical guidelines, including adherence to the legal requirements of the United States of America and received approval from the Institutional Review Board of the University of Tennessee at Martin.

Funding

No funding was used to support this research and/or the preparation of the manuscript.

References