Mental health status among Arab university students in the UK

Introduction

There is a growing concern about mental health among university students in the UK. Evidence of persistent ethnic inequalities is well established. There is a lack of data on Arab students in the UK context. This study aims to explore mental health status and accessing university mental wellbeing support to illustrate a holistic picture of the current situation to establish evidence that can guide university mental health support.

Methods

This study employs a quantitative cross-sectional design. Participants were recruited from universities across Birmingham using purposive and snowball sampling to ensure representation of Arab students. Group differences between students who accessed mental health support and those who did not were examined using independent samples t‑tests. Measures included the Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale (DASS‑21), Diener’s Flourishing Scale, and the Attitudes Toward Seeking Professional Psychological Help Scale–Short Form (ATSPPH‑SF).

Results

A total of 133 students were recruited. The study revealed that students who accessed the university mental health support had statistically significantly higher levels of depression, anxiety, and stress and better attitudes toward seeking professional mental health support compared to those who did not access the university mental health support. However, there is no significant difference in subjective wellbeing between students who accessed support and those who did not.

Conclusions

This study provides novel data on mental health and accessing university mental wellbeing support among Arab students in the UK. Results highlight that the university’s mental well-being services are reaching those who are most in need. However, the lack of significance in wellbeing between those who reach out for support and those who do not might suggest that the current mental wellbeing services are not viewed as a suitable channel to provide support to improve mental wellbeing among Arab students.

Key messages

• Current university mental well-being services may not be enough to improve students’ mental well-being.

• This study highlights the urgent need for culturally tailored approaches to support Arab students’ mental well-being as a representation of an understudied ethnic minority group.