The Impact of Corona Pandemic on Students' Mental Health from the Educational Counselors' Viewpoint

Abstract

Corona pandemic has left negative impacts all over the world in general and Jordan in particular. Part of the negative impacts left by the pandemic are the psychological and emotional effects on schools' students. This study aimed to identify the impact of the Corona pandemic on the students' mental health in public schools in the Qasbah of Salt from the educational counselors' viewpoint. Seventy counselors participated in this study. To achieve the study's objectives, the researchers developed a questionnaire consisting of (42) items within three domains: Eating and sleeping disorders, psychological problems, depression, and obsessive-compulsive disorder. SPSS program was used to analyze the collected data. The results showed that corona pandemic has a medium effect on students' mental health in the areas of obsessive-compulsive disorder, psychological problems and depression and that eating and sleep disorders were high among students. There were no statistically significant gender differences among the counselors. However, there were statistically significant differences due to the experience favoring those with ten years or above. Furthermore, statistically significant differences were evident due to the educational qualification favoring those with graduate studies degrees. Based on these results, future suggestions for research, policy and practices are presented.