Psychological Distress in Kufa University Students: A Comparative Study between Humanistic and Scientific Fields and Day vs Night Study Schedules

Duaa Abdul Hadi Fatlawi; Ahmed Burhan Abdulameer; Rawnaq Hussain Al-Ghrebaw

Authors

Duaa Abdul Hadi Fatlawi
[email protected]
Faculty of Nursing, University of Kufa, Iraq
Ahmed Burhan Abdulameer Faculty of Nursing, University of Kufa, Iraq
Rawnaq Hussain Al-Ghrebaw Faculty of Nursing, University of Kufa, Iraq

Vol. 3 No. 8 (2025): International Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience and Psychology

Articles

August 7, 2025

Downloads

View Article

Abstract
How to Cite
Metrics
References

Psychological distress is seen as an umbrella term that covers various emotional and somatic symptoms. It is not limited to clinical mental illness but spans a continuum from transient stress responses to chronic psychiatric conditions A descriptive comparative study approach was designed to meet the previously mentioned objectives of the current study. The period of the study is from 1st November 2024 to 20th March 2025. A convenience sample of (102) students from three scientific colleges (nursing Engineering and Science) and three humanistic colleges (Low, Arts, Jurisprudence) / University of Kufa from night and day study. The study instrument consist of two part, part1: Subjects socio-demographic data (Age/Years, sex, stage, type of study, type of college, residence, and monthly income), part2: Kissler Psychological Distress scale (k10)‎. The results of the currents study revealed that the psychological distress among Kufa university students the overall mean of score of Kessler Psychological Distress (K10) Scale for morning and night study students. It shows that the overall mean of score of Psychological Distress is mild level (58.8%) for morning students and (68.6%) have mild levels for night study students. Inferential statistics has shown that there is no a highly significant difference in mean of score for night and morning study and scientific and humanistic collage. And it indicates that there is no significant relationship between Kessler Psychological Distress (K10) Scale and demographic data at (P>0.05). Except sex at (P=0.034) and monthly income at (P=0.030). A mild level of psychological distress was found among Kufa university students for both night and day study and humanistic and scientific colleges. The night study students exhibited a higher level of psychological distress than day study students. It is recommended to activate the sessions of educational guidance and support to deal with the problems and difficulties that may increase students' psychological distress. Achieving further studies about the effectiveness of educational programs in relieving psychological distress among students.

Fatlawi, D. A. H., Abdulameer, A. B., & Al-Ghrebaw, R. H. (2025). Psychological Distress in Kufa University Students: A Comparative Study between Humanistic and Scientific Fields and Day vs Night Study Schedules. International Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience and Psychology, 3(8), 1–9. Retrieved from https://medicaljournals.eu/index.php/IJCNP/article/view/2020

Download Citation

S. H. Ridner, “Psychological distress: concept analysis,” J. Adv. Nurs., vol. 45, no. 5, pp. 536–545, 2004.

N. Bayram and N. Bilgel, “The prevalence and socio-demographic correlations of depression, anxiety and stress among a group of university students,” Soc. Psychiatry Psychiatr. Epidemiol., vol. 43, no. 8, pp. 667–672, 2008.

H. G. Lund, B. D. Reider, A. B. Whiting, and J. R. Prichard, “Sleep patterns and predictors of disturbed sleep in a large population of college students,” J. Adolesc. Health, vol. 46, no. 2, pp. 124–132, 2010.

D. Robotham and C. Julian, “Stress and the higher education student: a critical review of the literature,” J. Further High. Educ., vol. 30, no. 2, pp. 107–117, 2006.

L. N. Dyrbye et al., “Systematic review of depression, anxiety, and other indicators of psychological distress among US and Canadian medical students,” Acad. Med., vol. 81, no. 4, pp. 354–373, 2006.

[6] A. K. Ibrahim, S. J. Kelly, C. E. Adams, and C. Glazebrook, “A systematic review of studies of depression prevalence in university students,” J. Psychiatr. Res., vol. 47, no. 3, pp. 391–400, 2013. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpsychires.2012.11.015

H. M. Stallman, “Psychological distress in university students: A comparison with general population data,” Aust. Psychol., vol. 45, no. 4, pp. 249–257, 2010. https://doi.org/10.1080/00050067.2010.482109

C. Regehr, D. Glancy, and A. Pitts, “Interventions to reduce stress in university students: A review and meta-analysis,” J. Affect. Disord., vol. 148, no. 1, pp. 1–11, 2013. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2012.11.026

J. K. Hyun, B. C. Quinn, T. Madon, and S. Lustig, “Graduate student mental health: Needs assessment and utilization of counseling services,” J. Coll. Stud. Dev., vol. 47, no. 3, pp. 247–266, 2006. https://doi.org/10.1353/csd.2006.0030

D. Eisenberg, S. E. Gollust, E. Golberstein, and J. L. Hefner, “Prevalence and correlates of depression, anxiety, and suicidality among university students,” Am. J. Orthopsychiatry, vol. 77, no. 4, pp. 534–542, 2007. https://doi.org/10.1037/0002-9432.77.4.534

R. P. Auerbach et al., “Mental disorders among college students in the World Health Organization World Mental Health Surveys,” Psychol. Med., vol. 46, no. 14, pp. 2955–2970, 2016. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0033291716001665

M. Wittmann, J. Dinich, M. Merrow, and T. Roenneberg, “Social jetlag: Misalignment of biological and social time,” Chronobiol. Int., vol. 23, no. 1–2, pp. 497–509, 2006. https://doi.org/10.1080/07420520500545979

R. Beiter et al., “The prevalence and correlates of depression, anxiety, and stress in a sample of college students,” J. Affect. Disord., vol. 173, pp. 90–96, 2015. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2014.10.054

M. L. Ryan, I. M. Shochet, and H. M. Stallman, “Universal online interventions might engage psychologically distressed university students who are unlikely to seek formal help,” Adv. Ment. Health, vol. 9, no. 1, pp. 73–83, 2010. https://doi.org/10.5172/jamh.9.1.73

H. M. Zan and A. K. Khudhair, “Impact of social phobia upon self-esteem of nursing collegians' in Iraq,” Iraqi Natl. J. Nurs. Spec., vol. 25, no. 3, 2012.

N. Bayram and N. Bilgel, “The prevalence and socio-demographic correlations of depression, anxiety and stress among a group of university students,” Soc. Psychiatry Psychiatr. Epidemiol., vol. 43, no. 8, pp. 667–672, 2008. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00127-008-0345-x

T. A. Faraj, “Stress levels regarding COVID-19 pandemic among nursing students at university of Sulaimani, Kurdistan region, IRAQ,” Wiad. Lek., vol. 75, pp. 809–813, 2022.

A. J. Carson et al., “Mental health in medical students: A case control study using the 60 item General Health Questionnaire,” Scott. Med. J., vol. 45, no. 4, pp. 115–116, 2000. https://doi.org/10.1177/003693300004500406

C. M. Leahy et al., “Distress levels and self-reported treatment rates for medicine, law, psychology and mechanical engineering tertiary students: cross-sectional study,” Aust. N. Z. J. Psychiatry, vol. 44, no. 7, pp. 608–615, 2010.

H. G. Lund, B. D. Reider, A. B. Whiting, and J. R. Prichard, “Sleep patterns and predictors of disturbed sleep in a large population of college students,” J. Adolesc. Health, vol. 46, no. 2, pp. 124–132, 2010. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jadohealth.2009.06.016

R. Beiter et al., “The prevalence and correlates of depression, anxiety, and stress in a sample of college students,” J. Affect. Disord., vol. 173, pp. 90–96, 2015.

R. C. Kessler et al., “Short screening scales to monitor population prevalences and trends in non-specific psychological distress,” Psychol. Med., vol. 32, no. 6, pp. 959–976, 2002. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0033291702006074

P. Nerdrum, T. Rustøen, and M. Rønnestad, “Student psychological distress: a psychometric study of 1750 Norwegian 1st-year undergraduate students,” Scand. J. Educ. Res., vol. 50, no. 1, pp. 95–109, 2006.

G. W. Evans, N. M. Wells, and A. Moch, “Housing and mental health: A review of the evidence and a methodological and conceptual critique,” J. Soc. Issues, vol. 59, no. 3, pp. 475–500, 2003. https://doi.org/10.1111/1540-4560.00074

W. Larcombe and K. Fethers, “Schooling the blues? An investigation of factors associated with psychological distress among law students,” UNSW Law J., vol. 36, no. 2, pp. 390–436, 2013.

B. Andrews and J. M. Wilding, “The relation of depression and anxiety to life-stress and achievement in students,” Br. J. Psychol., vol. 95, no. 4, pp. 509–521, 2004. https://doi.org/10.1348/0007126042369802

International Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience and Psychology

Psychological Distress in Kufa University Students: A Comparative Study between Humanistic and Scientific Fields and Day vs Night Study Schedules

Authors

Downloads

Similar Articles

menu

Our Journal

SocialShare

counter

Information