Identifying possible factors that influence mental health among public university students in Malaysia

Mental health is an essential component of total health at all stages of life. It affects a person’s personal and social life, including regulating their emotions and thoughts, coping with stress, engaging with people and making sensible decisions. In recent decades, mental health has been a prevalent health issue among students. Therefore, the purpose of this study is: (1) to identify the possible factors influencing student mental health in public universities, (2) to determine the most influential factor that affects mental health among public university students, and (3) to analyze relationship between identified factors with student mental health. This study employed a quantitative approach using survey questionnaires. A sample of 200 students from public universities in Malaysia returned and usable for data analysis. The data was analysed using Version 27 of the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS). The results of this study found that the scores for the three factors indicated a tendency towards agreement on student mental health factors with academic pressure (Mean=3.20), financial distress (Mean=2.69), and social support (Mean=3.48). The findings of the study showed that academic pressure (r=.495, p p<.001), financial distress (r=.348, p<.001) and social support (r=−.235, p<.001) had a significant relationship between student mental health. Furthermore, multiple linear regression analysis was employed to predict students’ mental health using the three independent variables. The findings revealed that the three factors accounted for 29.7% of the variance in predicting student mental health. Also, academic pressure found to be the most influential factor on mental health among public university students, followed by social support while financial distress had no relative influence. These findings suggest that educators and higher education institutions should establish standards to reduce excessive academic stress, such as offering flexible deadlines and a balanced workload distribution in order to improve student mental well-being.

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