Skip to main content
. 2024 Feb 7;19:12. doi: 10.51866/oa.34l

Table 3. Associated factors (self-system) of the mental health status among the Malaysian youth attending higher educational institutions (N=1171).

Variables

Depressive symptoms

Anxiety symptoms

Stress symptoms

Normal

Abnormal

P

Normal

Abnormal

P

Normal

Abnormal

P

Age

 18-20 years

 21-24 years

 

370 (52.4)

267 (57.4

 

336 (57.4)

37.1 (42.6)

0.092

 

262 (37.1)

200 (43.0)

 

444 (62.9)

265 (57.0)

0.043*

 

479 (67.8)

323 (69.5)

 

227 (32.2)

142 (30.5)

0.560

Sex

 Male

 Female

 

216 (61.5)

421 (51.3)

 

135 (38.5)

399 (48.7)

0.001*

 

164 (46.7)

298 (36.3)

 

187 (26.4)

522 (63.7)

<0.001*

 

275 (78.3)

527 (68.5)

 

76 (21.7)

293 (31.5)

<0.001*

Race

 Malay

 Non-Malay

 

397 (54.4)

240 (54.4)

 

333 (62.4)

201 (45.6)

0.990

 

298 (40.8)

164 (37.2)

 

432 (59.2)

277 (62.8)

0.218

 

506 (69.3)

296 (67.1)

 

224 (30.7)

145 (32.9)

0.433

Religion

 Muslim

 Non-Muslim

 

420 (53.9)

217(55.4)

 

359 (46.1)

175 (44.6)

0.64

 

308 (39.5)

154 (39.3)

 

471 (60.5)

238 (60.7)

0.934

 

532 (68.3)

270 (68.9)

 

247 (31.7)

122 (31.1)

0.839

Locality

 Rural

 Urban

 

223 (55.5)

414(53.8)

 

179 (44.5)

355 (46.2)

0.593

 

159 (39.6)

303 (39.4)

 

243 (60.4)

466 (60.6)

0.960

 

276 (68.7)

526 (68.4)

 

126 (31.3)

243 (31.6)

0.929

Living arrangement

 With family

 Without family

 

573 (54.1)

64(57.1)

 

486 (45.9)

48 (42.9)

0.540

 

423 (39.9)

39 (34.8)

 

636 (60.1)

73 (65.2)

0.292

 

724 (68.4)

78 (69.6)

 

335 (31.6)

34 (30.4)

0.782

Current relationship status

 Single/in a

 Relationship

 Married

 

635 (54.4)

2 (66.7)

 

533 (45.6)

1 (33.3)

0.669

 

460 (39.4)

2 (66.7)

 

708 (60.6)

1 (33.3)

0.334

 

799 (68.4)

3 (100.0)

 

369 (31.5)

0 (0.00)

0.239

Parents’ marital status

 Married

 Others

 

553 (56.0)

84 (45.9)

 

435 (44.0)

99 (54.1)

0.012*

 

402 (40.7)

60 (32.8)

 

586 (59.3)

123 (67.2)

0.045*

 

689 (69.7)

113(61.7)

 

299 (30.3)

70 (38.5)

0.033*

Household income

 ≤RM 4849

 RM 4850-10959

 ≥RM 10960

 

373 (54.5)

192 (53.9)

72 (55.4)

 

312(45.5)

164(46.1)

58 (44.6)

0.959

 

264 (38.5)

137 (38.5)

61 (46.9)

 

421 (61.5)

219(61.5)

69 (53.1)

0.181

 

466 (68.0)

242 (68.0)

94 (72.3)

 

219(32.0)

114(32.0)

36 (27.7)

0.610

Institution

 Public

 Private

 

344 (59.2)

293 (49.7)

 

237 (40.8)

297 (50.3)

0.001*

 

211 (35.8)

251 (43.2)

 

379 (64.2)

330 (56.8)

0.009*

 

389 (65.9)

413(71.1)

 

201 (34.1)

168 (28.9)

0.058

Field of study

 Science

 Social

 

266 (59.1)

371 (51.5)

 

184 (40.9)

350 (48.5)

0.011*

 

199 (44.2)

263 (36.5)

 

251 (55.8)

458 (63.5)

0.008“

 

315(70.0)

487 (67.5)

 

135 (30.0)

234 (32.5)

0.379

Year of study

Year 1

Year 2

Year 3

Year 4

 

289 (54.5)

163 (53.1)

125 (54.6)

60(57.1)

 

241 (45.5)

144 (46.9)

104 (45.4)

45(42.9)

0.911

 

215(40.6)

112(36.5)

90 (39.3)

45 (42.9)

 

315(59.4)

195 (63.5)

139 (60.7)

60 (57.1)

0.589

 

370(69.8)

200 (65.1)

161 (70.3)

71 (67.6)

 

160 (31.2)

107 (34.9)

68 (29.7)

34 (32.4)

0.493

Substance abuse Smoking/vaping history

 Yes

 No

 

82(45.3)

555(56.1)

 

99 (54.7)

435 (43.9)

0.008*

 

64 (35.4)

398 (34.0)

 

117 (64.6)

592 (59.8)

0.220

 

113(62.4)

689 (69.6)

 

68 (37.6)

301 (30.4)

0.056

Alcohol intake

 Yes

 No

 

103 (49.3)

534 (55.5)

 

106 (50.7)

428 (44.5)

0.101

 

390 (40.5)

72 (34.4)

 

572 (59.5)

137 (65.6)

0.102

 

134 (64.1)

668 (69.4)

 

75 (31.5)

294 (30.6)

0.133

Drug abuse

 Yes

 No

 

3 (30.0)

634 (54.6)

 

7 (70.0)

527 (45.4)

0.120

 

3 (30.0)

459 (39.5)

 

7 (70.0)

702 (60.5)

0.539

 

4 (40.0)

798 (68.7)

 

6 (60.0)

363 (31.3)

0.051

Adverse childhood experiences#

 

 

<0.001*

 

 

<0.001*

 

 

<0.001*

Religiosity

 Organisational religious activity#

 Non-organisational religious activity#

 Intrinsic religiosity*

 

 

 

0.071*

0.034*

0.006“

 

 

 

0.012*

0.026*

0.017*

 

 

 

0.328

0.510

0.220

#

Point-biserial correlation test

§

Pearson chi-square test

*

Significant (P<0.05)