Analysis of mental health in university students and its effects

Abstract

Mental health problems in university students were highlighted during the Covid-19 pandemic, showing the need to pay greater attention to psychological, emotional and social conditions. Since confinement and isolation, diseases and disorders have increased in school environments. Therefore, the objective of the paper is to analyze empirical evidence on mental health in students of higher education through a systematic review of scientific literature, which allows recognizing effects on training and academic performance. The methodology adapted to the study is qualitative cut, based on the systematic review of scientific literature, which consists of three phases, the first consisted of the exploration of 17,649 materials including scientific articles and degree theses; the second phase consisted of a more detailed exploration based on the implementation of filters such as keywords, reading abstracts and reading the full text; The third phase was the processing of materials that met with methodological quality and contribute to knowledge about mental health in university students, in an analysis matrix that allowed identifying categories of analysis, concepts, debates, among others. The systematic literature review identified lines of analysis, the first contributing to the debate on mental health in university students; the next consisted in identifying the most common sufferings in students that compromise their mental health; and third, the effects of mental health on training and academic performance of university students are presented. As a conclusion, it is identified that mental health in university students is an issue that became relevant in the pandemic by Covid-19 and that prevails as a problem that affects training and academic performance.