Taleb, Ola k. A. (2022) Structural relationship of environmental factors, psychological health and academic performance among medical students taking online learning during the covid-19 pandemic in Universiti Sains Malaysia. Masters thesis, Universiti Sains Malaysia.
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Abstract
Introduction: The COVID-19 outbreak, and quarantined period have enforced the universities in Malaysia to turn the face-to-face classrooms into online classes. These new environmental factors may be disturbing and have an impact on students' psychological health and academic performance. Objective: This study aimed to determine the measurement validity of the English version scales of environment factors, determine the mean scores of environmental factors and psychological health of the students, and examine their structural relationship with academic performance among undergraduate medical students in Health Campus, Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM). Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted using an online self-reported questionnaire among undergraduate medical students in Health Campus, USM from August 2021 to May 2022. Participants were selected using convenience sampling. Environmental factors were measured using lighting, noise, and temperature (LNT) and technology scales, psychological health was assessed using the short version General Health Questionnaire (GHQ- 12) and Grade Point Average (GPA) for academic performance. Descriptive statistics, confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and structural equation modelling (SEM) were used in the statistical analyses. Results: A total of 218 students participated in CFA study and 207 students participated in SEM study. Most of students stay inside campus and use the university Wi-Fi. In the measurement model validity, the English version of LNT with nine items revealed a good fit to the data with no item deleted: Comparative Fit Index (CFI) = 0.99, Tucker Lewis Index (TLI) = 0.98, Standardized Root Mean Square Residual (SRMR) = 0.03 and Root Mean Square Error of Approximation (RMSEA) (90%CI) = 0.03 (0.00, 0.07). The Composite Reliability (CR) was 0.81, 0.81, and 0.84 and the Average Variance Extracted (AVE)was 0.61, 0.59 and 0.63. The English version of the technology scale with six items also showed a good fit to the data with no item deleted: CFI = 0.99, TLI = 0.97, SRMR = 0.02, Root Mean RMSEA (90%CI) = 0.06 (0.00, 0.16). The CR was 0.84, and AVE was 0.51. The mean (standard deviation (SD)) score of LNT, technology, and psychological health were 4.26 (0.71), 3.52 (0.91), 3.93 (0.80), 3.98 (0.58), and 4.16 (3.92) respectively. In addition, the SEM final model showed a good fit to the data: CFI = 0.96, TLI = 0.95, SRMR = 0.05, RMSEA (90%CI) = 0.04 (0.02, 0.06) with one hypothesis supported, which was psychological health with academic performance (β = -0.21, p = 0.004). There was no significant relationship between environmental factors and academic performance, as well as environmental factors with psychological health. Conclusion: The results provide psychometric evidence for applying the environmental questionnaire scales to evaluate the factors that are associated with academic performance participation among university medical students in Malaysia. All items were retained and confirmed to be fit for the sample data. The hypothesised structural model tested in this study, supported scientific evidence of inverse relationships between psychological health and academic performance. The findings could be helpful to academics, health policymakers, and health educators in understanding and promoting psychological health among university students, as well as improving their academic success.
| Item Type: | Thesis (Masters) |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | structural relationship, environmental factors, covid 19 |
| Subjects: | R Medicine R Medicine > RA Public aspects of medicine |
| Divisions: | Kampus Kesihatan (Health Campus) > Pusat Pengajian Sains Perubatan (School of Medical Sciences) > Thesis |
| Depositing User: | MUHAMMAD AKIF AIMAN AB SHUKOR |
| Date Deposited: | 25 Jun 2026 04:28 |
| Last Modified: | 30 Aug 2026 07:17 |
| URI: | http://eprints.usm.my/id/eprint/64453 |
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