EWC 661

REPORT WRITING PROPOSAL

MENTAL HEALTH ISSUE AMONG STUDENT IN UNIVERSITI TEKNOLOGI

MARA (UiTM), SHAH ALAM

LECTURER’S NAME: DR. GOPIGHANTAN MYLVAGANAM

GROUP: EMD4M6C

NO. NAME STUDENT ID

1. ABDUL SHAHMI FARHAN B. ABD JALAL 2021852918
2. ALIFF AIMAN BIN NORZAINI 2021813186
3. ANIS ZAHRINA BINTI AZWA 2021847178
4. IRFAN FATHULLAH BIN NORZAINI 2021492374
5. MUHAMMAD YUSRI ASNAN BIN ZAIRIN 2021861748

SCHOOL OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

UNIVERSITI TEKNOLOGI MARA (UiTM)

18 MAY 2022
 TABLE OF CONTENT

1.0 INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................... 1

2.0 PROBLEM STATEMENT .................................................................................................. 2
3.0 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY ......................................................................................... 3
4.0 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY..................................................................................... 3
5.0 LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY....................................................................................... 4
6.0 PREVIOUS STUDIES ........................................................................................................ 5
7.0 METHODOLOGY .............................................................................................................. 6
7.1. Research Instrument ........................................................................................................ 6
7.2. Respondent ...................................................................................................................... 6
7.3. Procedure ......................................................................................................................... 6
REFERENCES .......................................................................................................................... 8

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1.0 INTRODUCTION

Mental health disorder is one of the major public health concerns worldwide, especially
among UiTM Shah Alam’s students, who are more likely than any other age groups to suffer
from mental health issues. It can have a negative impact on a student's energy level, enthusiasm,
concentration, sociability and optimism which resulting in poor performance. Depression,
anxiety, schizophrenia, eating disorder and bipolar disorder are examples of common mental
health problems among students. The two main factors that causes mental health crisis among
UiTM Shah Alam students are pressure to succeed in academics and financial stress which
adversely affect the students’ academic performance in university and life. (Light, 2020)

Nowadays, education has become a requirement for career success because of

technology advancement and the rapidly expanding global economy. As a result, a lot of UiTM
Shah Alam students experience tremendous pressure to perform and excel in studies which led
them to encounter a wide range of mental health conditions. In a challenging academic setting,
the desire to earn excellent grades contributed to increased stress and anxiety. Furthermore, the
cost of college is very expensive and most of the students take out loans to pay for tuition,
accommodation, board and other fees. Students may get concerned about their financial
situation as they consider how they will repay these loans after graduation. Moreover,
textbooks and other supplies are very high and students may need to perform one or more jobs
while in university to cover these fees. The difficulties in trying to balance employment and
school might lead to depression. (Light, 2020)

As recent COVID-19 outbreak, all face-to-face learning and teaching are converted to
e-learning and its implementation has influenced students’ mental health conditions. Based on
research, approximately 80% of participants agreed that e-learning had an impact on their
academic studies as the teaching method may not be as effective as face-to-face method. (Moy
& Ng, 2021)Therefore, UiTM Shah Alam students had substantially high levels of depression,
anxiety and stress during the COVID-19 pandemic.

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2.0 PROBLEM STATEMENT

For UiTM Shah Alam students to have a chance on landing their career of choice, they
are expected to achieve academic excellence, practical competence, as well as good
interpersonal skills. However, this might put additional pressure on the students, causing them
to become extremely stressed and develop mental health disorders. Mental health problems in
Malaysia have been on an upswing, with anxiety and depression being the two most common
types of mental health disorders diagnosed among UiTM Shah Alam students. According to
statistics, one in every three Malaysians suffers from mental health issues, with the highest
prevalence among those aged 16 to 19 years old (Malaysia, M.o.,2016)

In order to address the increasing needs of mental health services, the Malaysian
government the National Strategic Mental Health Action Plan in the year 2016 with the focus
on promoting mental health awareness, accessibility to mental health services, development of
mental health staff, psychological first aid and research, as well as collaboration across
agencies (Kotera, 2020).Despite the fact that there are lots of mental health support available,
a number of UiTM Shah Alam students opted not to seek any medical treatment at all. This is
partially due to a lack of awareness and partly because of the pressure of mental health stigma
(Hassan, 2018). If left untreated, these mental health problems can have a negative impact on
the students' quality of life and, in severe situations, lead to suicide.

Thus, the purpose of this study is to identify the determinants of mental health disorders
among UiTM Shah Alam students, the problems they will have to face if left untreated, and
ways to overcome them. Specifically, the following research questions are:

 What causes UiTM Shah Alam students to develop mental health problems?
 What will happen if UiTM Shah Alam students with mental illness choose not to
get any medical treatment?
 How can UiTM Shah Alam students overcome the difficulties caused by mental
health disorders?

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3.0 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

 To identify the causes of mental health among UiTM Shah Alam students.
 To discover the effects of mental health among UiTM Shah Alam students.
 To find out the ways to treat mental health problems among UiTM Shah Alam students.

4.0 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

Mental health issue among university students is a major growing health concern.
Research conducted in recent years has established that cases of students diagnosed with mental
health issues are on the rise. The mental health problems of students in tertiary institutions are
very big and important. But on the other hand, students’ mental health has not received
adequate attention. As a result, mental health problems in students are not detected and are not
treated so that they become chronic.

There are numerous mental health issues that affect university students in UiTM Shah
Alam. Depression is among the prevalent mental health issues among students. Moreover,
anxiety is another mental health issue facing university students. Anxiety is largely caused by
divergent issues like exam fear and experiencing difficulties while studying.

Mental health among students is very important because research shows that high levels
of mental health are associated with increased learning, creativity and productivity, more pro-
social behaviour and with improved physical health and life expectancy. Positive mental health
focuses on developing environments where you can thrive and reach your optimal potential at
work, study and in life. At times, we all experience personal difficulties that may cause
disruption and confusion in our lives. Study usually involves a significant commitment of time
and effort and requires a disciplined routine in order to achieve academic success, which can
place significant stress on mental health. It’s important that we have strategies in place to
protect our mental health.

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5.0 LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY

The study's findings must be viewed in light of many limitations. The overall
dissertation is focused on the objectives in order to ensure that the final production meets all
of the research objectives. As a result, the study is restricted to interventional and prospective
observational investigations. Because the goal of the study is to determine mental health issues
among students in UiTM Shah Alam, the study has a major limitation in the form of small
sample studies. The only sample on this study is UiTM Shah Alam students. When only one
set of subjects is researched, the study's reliability may be called into question. Small sample
studies, according to (Christley, 2010), can give false-positive results, which means the result
can indicate that the majority of the UiTM Shah Alam students facing mental health issue when
the majority of the UiTM Shah Alam students do not actually facing mental health issue. It can
also overestimate the magnitude of an association thus they do not produce reliable or precise
estimation.

Besides, it is also likely that the sample size will be too small to be representative of all
universities student.Eventho, the sample size aslo will not covered all UiTM Shah Alam
student. As the questionnaire will be distributed through Whatsapp app on mobile phone, the
sample acquired is a convenience sampling where subjects are taken from a group of people
that are easy to contact or to reach.The original respondents we obtained may share it with their
friends, resulting in a snowball sampling effect. Due to these two methodologies, however, this
study is prone to sample bias because the subjects are extremely likely to share the same
qualities and characteristics.

Furthermore, the research is based on self-reported information. Because self-reported

data is rarely independently checked, it has limitations. Selective remembering, telescoping,
attribution, and exaggeration are all potential sources of bias in self-reported data that should
be recognised as limits.

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6.0 PREVIOUS STUDIES

A few local studies investigating the issue of mental health revealed that mental health
problem is not foreign in Malaysia. A transverse online study, using Zung’s self-rating anxiety
set of questions was conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic and lockdown. Out of the 983
respondents, 20.4%, 6.6%, and 2.8% experienced minimal to moderate, marked to severe, and
most extreme levels of anxiety, respectively (Sundarasen, et al., 2020). (Azad, 2017) said on
their studies that the probability of anxiety were greater among the female students in
comparison to that among the male students. In the study by (Xiang, 2020), the younger
students that is in the age group of 17 to 18 years old specifically, were more anxious in
comparison to the older students. In my opinion, this happens because in that age, students
usually have many things on their minds such as, what course should they take, which
university should they apply to, what to do after graduating SPM and more. With reference to
the field of study by (Al-Rabiaah, 2020) students in management-related studies have a greater
level of anxiety in comparison to medical students and healthcare students. Other than that,
students who were living alone endured the highest anxiety levels in comparison to the students
that were living with their family as well as friends. The most frequently highlighted stressors
were primarily financial limitations, remote online classes, and unpredictability regarding the
future due to COVID-19 and lockdowns. Even though universities carried out remote online
classes swiftly, most of the lecturers still used the same course and learning outcomes that are
meant for face-to-face lecture.

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7.0 METHODOLOGY

7.1. Research Instrument

The research instrument that will be used to collect the data is an online
questionnaire. The questionnaire contains two parts which will contribute to a combination
of qualitative and quantitative study. Part A of the questionnaire gathers information about
the background of the respondents such as age and gender. Part B of the questionnaire
consists of questioning the question related mental health issue.It will review the data based
on selection answer given in the questionnaire form.This section is important to ascertain
the respondent’s condition of their mental health. Then, a pilot study will be conducted to
check the validity and reliability of the questionnaire.

7.2. Respondent

The survey will be distributed to 40 student from UiTM Shah Alam who currently
study in Mechanical Engineering course. The qualifying criteria for the participants are that
they are currenty become the student in university.Other than student cannot take the survey
and we make sure the questionnaire will not send to other than our target respondents. As
we distribute the survey, consent will be taken from the potential participants before they
can access the questionnaire section. The data will then only be collected from those
participants that granted their consents. The data received from the participants will be kept
confidential to ensure no harm upon the participation in the survey.

7.3. Procedure

In this research, the methodological approach includes the combination of

qualitative and quantitative data. First of all, a research question was developed which is to
ascertain the condition of mental health among UiTM Shah Alam student.Various literature
reviews were conducted related to the research question as it was necessary to give some
fundamental understanding of the problem. Then, the research was clarified as the previous
studies had some limitations and weaknesses, which can be considered to narrow the scope
of the study. Next, the objectives of the study were determined, and the significance of this
study were obtained. The questionnaires were designed as one of the steps for data

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collection. This was a very important step as the collection of data would provide
information that was needed in order to answer the research question. The Google Form
will be used to create the online surveys. These questionnaires must be properly designed
as it was crucial to obtain the maximum information and details from the respondents. The
Google Form will be distributed via WhatsApp applications. After the data were obtained,
they would be analysed, and the results would be summarized related to the research
question

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 REFERENCES

Al-Rabiaah, A. T.-E.-Z.-S.-S. (2020). Middle East Respiratory Syndrome-Corona Virus

(MERs-CoV) associated stress among medical students at a university teaching
hospital in Saudi Arabia. Journal of infection and public health, 13(5), 687-691.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jiph.2020.01.005
Azad, N. S. (2017). Anxiety and depression in medical students of a private medical college.
Journal of Ayub Medical College Abbottabadd, 29(1), 123-127.
Christley, R. (2010). Power and Error:Increased Risk of False Positive Results in
Underpowered Studies. The Open Epidemiology Journal, 3, 16-10.
Hassan, M. F. (2018). Issues and Challenges of Mental Health in Malaysia. International
Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, 12.
https://doi.org/10.6007/ijarbss/v8-i12/5288
Kotera, Y. S. (2020). Mental health of Malaysia university students: UK comparison and
relationship between negative mental health attitudes,self-compassion and resilience.
High Education, 81(2), 403-419.https://doi.org/10.1007/s10734-020-00547-w
Light, T. (2020, July 22). The Light Program.
https://thelightprogram.pyramidhealthcarepa.com/the-college-student-mental-health-
crisis/#:~:text=What%20is%20causing%20the%20college,less%20stigma%20around
%20seeking%20help
Malaysia, M. o. (2016, September 28). Mental Health Problems in Malaysia.
https://www.moh.gov.my/moh/modules_resources/english/database_stores/96/337_45
1.pdf
Moy, F. M., & Ng, Y. H. (2021). Perception towards E-learning and COVID-19 on the
mental health status of university students in Malaysia. 104(3).
Sundarasen, S., Chinna, K., Kamaludin, K., Nurunnabi, M., Baloch, G., Khoshaim, H., . . .
Sukayt, A. (2020). Psychological Impact of COVID-19 and Lockdown among
University Students in Malaysia: Implications and Policy Recommendations.
International journal of environmental research and public health, 17.
https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17176206
Xiang, Y. T. (2020). Timely mental health care for the 2019 novel coronavirus outbreak is
urgently needed. The lancet psychiatry, 7(3), 228-229.