Parent–child relationship and parents' psychological well‐being among Malaysian families amid pandemic: The role of stress and gender

The COVID‐19 pandemic has taken most part of the world by surprise. The orders of nationwide movement control and social distancing by the Malaysian authority to curb the spread of the airborne virus have sent working‐class families into a novel work‐from‐home condition. This study aimed to examine the association between positive experiences in parent–child relationships, parental stress and working parents' psychological well‐being in Malaysia during the pandemic by considering the mediating role of parental stress and the moderating role of parental gender role. A total of 214 working‐from‐home parents (Mage = 46.39;SDage = 9.06;51.9% working mothers;76.6% Chinese) participated in a cross‐sectional quantitative online survey. A significant positive relationship was found between parent–child relationships and parents' psychological well‐being. Parental stress was negatively correlated with parent–child relationships and parents' psychological well‐being. Meanwhile, parental stress significantly mediates the link between parent–child relationships and parents' psychological well‐being. Besides, parental gender role was found to be a significant moderator where fathers experience better psychological well‐being when they have more positive parent–child relationships. The findings further support the importance of positive interaction between parents and children and parental stress, which could affect parents' psychological well‐being. This study may fill a knowledge gap by providing an overview of working parents' psychological well‐being in their experience of working from home during the pandemic. [ FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of Child & Family Social Work is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full . (Copyright applies to all s.)

Online University Teaching During COVID-19: The Malaysian Experience

Malaysia, like the rest of the world, was hard hit by SARS-CoV-2, also known as COVID-19. After the first COVID-19 case was detected in Malaysia (on January 25, 2020) and traced back to three Chinese nationals, the country was put under Movement Control Order (MCO), a partial lockdown, initially for two weeks, on 18th March. Among MCO consequences: close major economic sectors and educational institutions. Public universities, which began a new semester under a Ministry of Higher Education ruling, switched to online teaching and learning. This chapter chronicles public university experiences with online teaching and learning during the COVID-19 period. A brief background captures the measures taken by the government;how these steps affected university education is appraised next;and finally, the steps taken by the universities to activate online teaching and learning. What challenges cropped up and how to deal with them are acknowledged before drawing conclusions from the online teaching and learning experiences of Malaysian universities. © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2023.

Identifikace prediktorů duševní pohody vysokoškolských studentů během pandemie covidu-19

Pandemie covidu-19 byla široce zkoumána jako ekonomická i zdravotní krize s důrazem na zvyšování duševního zdraví a pohody vysokoškolských studentů. Tato studie zkoumá vztahy mezi fyzickým zdravím, sociální podporou a gramotností v oblasti duševního zdraví s duševní pohodou studentů malajsijských univerzit během pandemie covidu-19. Studijní soubor tvořilo 199 studentů. Průřezový průzkum byl proveden pomocí dotazníků, které si sami zadali. Tyto dotazníky využívaly Short Warwick Edinburgh Mental Well-Being Scale (SWEMWBS), nástroj Multidimenzionální škála vnímané sociální podpory a nástroj Škála duševního zdraví. Průzkum zahrnoval i položky z dotazníku Global Physical Activity Questionnaire (GPAQ). Výsledky této studie ukázaly, že fyzické zdraví má pozitivní a silný vztah k duševní pohodě. Podobně výsledky ukázaly, že sociální podpora má významný a pozitivní vztah k duševní pohodě. Nicméně duševní zdravotní gramotnost nebyla významně spojena s duševní pohodou. Výsledky tohoto výzkumu by mohly poskytnout zákonodárcům, odborníkům z praxe a vedení univerzit užitečné poznatky, které podporují pozitivní výsledky provádění intervenčních programů ke zlepšení duševní pohody studentů.Alternate :The Covid-19 pandemic has been widely examined to be both an economic crisis and health with updates of increasing the mental health and well-being of university students. This study examines the relationships between physical health, social support, and mental health literacy with the mental well-being of Malaysian university students during the Covid-19 pandemic. The study population comprised 199 students. A cross-sectional survey was conducted with self-administered questionnaires that used the Short Warwick Edinburgh Mental Well-Being Scale (SWEMWBS), the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support instrument, and the Mental Health Literacy Scale. The survey also included items from the Global Physical Activity Questionnaire (GPAQ). The results of this study showed that physical health had a positive and strong relationship with mental well-being. Similarly, the results indicated that social support had a significant and positive relationship with mental well-being. However, mental health literacy was not significantly associated with mental well-being. The results of this research might provide policymakers, practitioners, and university management with useful insights that foster the positive outcome of conducting intervention programs to improve the mental well-being of students.

Travel Behaviour and Perceptions of Malaysian Airline Passengers during Endemic COVID-19

The study examines Malaysian airline passengers' travel behaviour and perceptions during the endemic Covid-19 after Malaysia re-opened the border. People are free to do an activity, especially travelling by aeroplane. Data were collected through an online platform in 2023. 390 data were obtained and used for the analysis. Findings reveal that 86.15% of Malaysian have travelled by aeroplane since the endemic, and 14.10% have travelled more than five times. 54.44% strongly agree they will avoid travelling with aircraft because of a few personal issues. In addition, results revealed a significant change in passengers' behaviour and perception when travelling after the hit of Covid-19 worldwide.

Factors associated with quality of life during COVID-19 pandemic

Introduction: The worldwide lockdown in response to the COVID-19 pandemic has been reported to have an impact on many people's quality of life. This study aims to measure the quality of life for Malaysians during this time and its associated factors. Method(s): This national online survey from August to December 2021 via placement of QR codes in public places such as shopping malls, vaccination centres, and hospital outpatient clinics. The QR code is linked to a google form in Malay, which consists of four sections, including: socio-demographic;validated Fear of COVID-19 Scale;validated Brief COPE scale to assess coping strategies as well as regulating cognition in response to stressors coping mechanisms, and quality of life, measured using a validated WHOQOL-BREF questionnaire. The data collected were analysed via linear regression to obtain the final model. Result(s): There were 4904 Malaysian adults who participated in this survey with a mean of age 32(SD=9.2), and the majority being female (83.7%). Based on the finding, 59.1% claim to have had a low overall quality of life during the pandemic. Age, education status, and income as well as psychological related predictors (fear of COVID-19, coping strategies, and psychological distress) are the predictors that explain 69% of the total variance in quality of life among Malaysians. Conclusion(s): Targeting modifiable factors such as psychoeducation on fear of COVID-19, and coping strategies can potentially improve the quality of life during the COVID-19 pandemic among Malaysians.

Vocabulary Index as a Sustainable Resource for Teaching Extended Writing in the Post-Pandemic Era

In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, Malaysian English teachers identified a pressing need to support upper primary school pupils, particularly those in the upper levels, in the effective composition of extended writing. Additionally, these educators required more innovative methodologies for teaching vocabulary in this context. Consequently, the current study aimed to develop a vocabulary index as a suggested resource for Malaysian English teachers instructing upper primary school pupils on extended writing. To achieve this, a quantitative computational research strategy and corpus-driven research design were employed. A purposive sampling technique was used to select 560 advanced upper primary school pupils from 28 schools, each with high English performance in the capital of each state and the federal territory of Malaysia, who produced a total of 152,187 words in extended writing for analysis. LancsBox, a primary computational linguistics application, was used for data processing. Given that the vocabulary index for extended writing necessitates a more comprehensive coverage of vocabulary, functional and content words were included, and keywords, raw and normalised frequencies were analysed and reported. Through the vocabulary index built in this study, the researchers found English teachers in Malaysia should utilise local issues in writing prompts, emphasise the use of both positive and negative adjectives, introduce complex sentence structures to enhance pupils‟ writing abilities and also train pupils to organise the ideas in their writing. Future linguistic studies could replicate the present investigation, so that it can respond to their classroom needs. © Annals of Translational Medicine. All rights reserved.

Did the first Movement Control Order impact healthcare seeking behaviour and healthcare access among Malaysians? Findings from a cross-sectional survey

Introduction: In March 2020, Malaysia initiated the first Movement Control Order (MCO) to curb the spread of COVID-19 infections. While healthcare services remained operational, fears of contracting COVID-19 may have impacted health seeking behaviours and healthcare access. A survey was conducted to investigate how the first MCO impacted actions of individuals experiencing upper respiratory tract infection versus other symptoms, routine follow-up visits, and refill prescription practices. Method(s): A cross-sectional survey among adult Malaysians was conducted from November to December 2020. A selfadministered questionnaire was developed, validated, and disseminated on social media and communication platforms. Result(s): 3001 participants responded to the survey. 486 (16.0%) of them reported being unwell during the MCO. Regardless of symptoms, actions taken to seek medical care were similar. The most common action on average was visiting a medical doctor (55.0%), followed by self-medicating at home (38.0%). 588 participants had a scheduled appointment for their medical condition during the MCO. 253 of them had their appointments affected by the lockdown, for examples, 85.0% postponed, 12% cancelled, 9.0% referred. Only 42.3% of these affected participants saw a doctor within 3 months after the first MCO. Out of 487 participants who regularly collected medications from the pharmacy, 69.0% had a prescription refill appointment during the lockdown. Only 15.0% of them did not collect their medications on the scheduled date. Conclusion(s): The first MCO did not severely affect health seeking behaviour and prescription refill practices. However, there are concerns over timely access to follow-up appointments due to extensive rescheduling and backlogs triggered by the pandemic.

Identifying predictors of university students? mental well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic

The Covid-19 pandemic has been widely examined to be both an economic crisis and health with updates of increasing the mental health and well-being of university students. This study examines the relationships between physical health, social support, and mental health literacy with the mental well-being of Malaysian university students during the Covid-19 pandemic. The study population comprised 199 students. A cross-sectional survey was conducted with self-administered questionnaires that used the Short Warwick Edinburgh Mental Well-Being Scale (SWEMWBS), the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support instrument, and the Mental Health Literacy Scale. The survey also included items from the Global Physical Activity Questionnaire (GPAQ). The results of this study showed that physical health had a positive and strong relationship with mental well-being. Similarly, the results indicated that social support had a significant and positive relationship with mental well-being. However, mental health literacy was not significantly associated with mental well-being. The results of this research might provide policymakers, practitioners, and university management with useful insights that foster the positive outcome of conducting intervention programs to improve the mental well-being of students.

Travel Behaviour and Perceptions of Malaysian Airline Passengers during Endemic COVID-19

The study examines Malaysian airline passengers' travel behaviour and perceptions during the endemic Covid-19 after Malaysia re-opened the border. People are free to do an activity, especially travelling by aeroplane. Data were collected through an online platform in 2023. 390 data were obtained and used for the analysis. Findings reveal that 86.15% of Malaysian have travelled by aeroplane since the endemic, and 14.10% have travelled more than five times. 54.44% strongly agree they will avoid travelling with aircraft because of a few personal issues. In addition, results revealed a significant change in passengers' behaviour and perception when travelling after the hit of Covid-19 worldwide.

Educational disruption and innovative teaching during the pandemic: An empirical study

Due to the Covid-19 lockdown, educational disruption has become a global concern, necessitating a concentration of regulators and new researchers to resolve. Thus, the current study examines the role of instructors' inventiveness and commitment to resolving educational disruptions in Malaysian institutions. Additionally, this paper explores the mediating function of educational system improvement in the relationship between teacher innovativeness, teacher commitment, and educational disruption in Malaysian universities. The current study collected primary data from chosen respondents via survey questionnaires. Additionally, the PLS-SEM was utilised to investigate the relationship between the variables in this study. The findings indicated that teachers' inventiveness and devotion to education positively resolve educational disruptions in Malaysian universities. Additionally, the data revealed that upgrading the educational system greatly mediates the relationship between teachers' innovativeness, teachers' dedication, and eradicating educational disturbance in Malaysian institutions. The current study serves as a guide for future scholars who wish to investigate this topic further and serves as a resource for policymakers who wish to design legislation to eradicate educational interruption. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)

First molecular documented case of a rarely reported parasite: Plasmodium knowlesi infection in Denmark in a traveller returning from Malaysian Borneo.

Plasmodium knowlesi has been reported as an emerging infection throughout the Southeast Asian region, especially in the Malaysian state of Sabah, where it accounts for the majority of the malaria cases reported. This is in contrast to Europe, where imported P. knowlesi is a rarely reported infection. We present a case of P. knowlesi infection in a Danish woman returning from a short trip to Malaysian Borneo. Microscopy of blood smears revealed 0.8% infected erythrocytes, but due to the atypical morphological presentation, a conclusive species identification was made by molecular methods. Plasmodium knowlesi is a potentially fatal infection and taking the increasing travel activity into consideration after the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, P. knowlesi should be a differential diagnosis in patients with travel-associated illness returning from highly endemic Southeast Asian areas.

Factors affecting Malaysian ESL teachers' behavioral intentions for technology use in the post-COVID-19 era.

This study aimed to investigate English as a Second Language (ESL) teachers' technology acceptance levels and to identify the factors affecting their behavioral intentions (BI) with respect to technology use in the post-COVID-19 era. A cross-sectional survey of 361 Malaysian ESL teachers was conducted. Participants were recruited via convenience sampling, and they answered an online survey questionnaire that was designed with reference to past studies. The collected data were analyzed via descriptive statistics, Pearson's correlation, and multiple regression analyses. The findings revealed that Malaysian ESL teachers generally had a high level of technology acceptance in the post-COVID-19 era. Their BIs had a significant relationship with three factors: performance expectancy (PE), effort expectancy (EE), and social influence (SI), of which EE was identified as the most significant factor influencing their BI with respect to technology use in the post-COVID-19 era. Conversely, the presence of facilitating conditions did not have a substantial connection with ESL teachers' behavioral intentions for technology use after the pandemic, despite the fact that there was weak positive relationship with each other. This study provides insights for the field of educational psychology by identifying the current trends in ESL teachers' behavioral intentions in adopting technology in the post-COVID-19-era ESL classrooms. The findings of this study may also support investigations into technology acceptance in ESL teaching, illustrating a growing need to provide adequate educational and technological tools, resources, and facilities to facilitate the delivery of lessons by ESL teachers. Future studies should conduct longitudinal research and investigate more variables from different technology acceptance models.

Behind-the-Scenes: Challenges to Integrate Google Classroom in Teaching and Learning

Due to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Malaysian government has announced Movement Control Order (MCO) for the safety of the nation. Based on the latest data from UNESCO (2020), this measure has impacted over 7.9 million of learners in Malaysia. Subsequently, teachers in Malaysia are facing challenges to continue providing quality education to students due to the pandemic. Google Classroom was introduced after the termination of Frog VLE in Malaysia. However, the researcher found that implementing Google Classroom via online teaching and learning is ineffective compared to the face-to-face method. Hence, this study aimed to explore why Malaysian teachers face challenges in teaching and learning. The study employed a qualitative study using a semi-structured interview. The participants of this study were five teachers from different secondary schools in Selangor, Malaysia. Purposive sampling was adopted in this study with two criteria. The first criterion is that participants need to have experience in using Google Classroom in teaching and learning regardless of any subjects' while the second is that participants need at least five years of teaching experience in secondary school. As a result, a total of four themes were categorised. This research finding would offer insights to educational stakeholders and school administrators to improve the integration of Google Classroom in teaching and learning. Recommendations were generalisability and suggestions to the future researcher to explore ways to overcome the challenges faced by secondary school teachers. © ICCE 2022.All rights reserved.

Visualizing COVID-19 Vaccination Rate and Vaccination Centre in Malaysia using DBSCAN Clustering model

In February 2021, the Malaysian government launched a vaccination campaign against coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). However, there is a problem in identifying suitable location for vaccination centre should be allocated. At the same time, there are population that living in the rural area and has difficulty to travel to the nearest vaccination centres. Therefore, based on the data of vaccination rate collected by Ministry of Health, the proposed project aims to classify and visualise the data based on number of COVID-19 vaccination rate and centre in Malaysia for the adult and adolescent populations. This project uses machine learning technique called Density-Based Spatial Clustering of Applications with Noise (DBSCAN). The system is developed in Python language platform for back-end development, and PyCharm is utilised for front-end development in web-based platform. This project follows four phases in Waterfall model: requirement analysis, design, implementation, and testing. The system is evaluated for functionality and usability based on user satisfaction and the accuracy of the model. The results of the testing shows that all the functionality of the system have been implemented successfully in the system. The system also rated good according to SUS Questionnaire in usability testing with score of 88.5%. The model of machine learning also achieved a good accuracy score which is greater than 0.3. In conclusion, the data visualization web-based application helps the Malaysian government to identify location for additional vaccination centres in strategic locations and it helps Malaysian people to locate nearby vaccination centres in their area. © 2022 IEEE.

Knowledge, Attitudes, Practices, and Online Distance Learning Experience of Malaysian University Students towards COVID-19: A Cross Sectional Study

Some new norms need to be adapted due to COVID-19 pandemic period where people need to wear masks, wash their hands frequently, maintain social distancing, and avoid going out unless necessary. Therefore, educational institutions were closed to minimize the spread of COVID-19. As a result of this, online education was adapted to substitute face-to-face learning. Therefore, this study aimed to assess the Malaysian university students' adaptation to the new norms, knowledge and practices toward COVID-19, besides, their attitudes toward online learning. This study was conducted from January to February 2021 and included a sample of 500 Malaysian university students. For data collection, all students were asked to fill in a questionnaire that was developed based on previous literature, using Google Forms. 498 students completed the questionnaire (response rate 99.6%). Malaysian Ministry of Health was the main source (83.73%) that students refer to when looking for information on COVID-19. Only 40% of the participants had good overall knowledge about COVID-19;such knowledge was influenced by the students' field of study. The current practice towards COVID-19 was good only by 26.1% of participating students;such practice was influenced by the ethnic groups. Additionally, 60% of participated students agreed that COVID-19 can be successfully controlled. About one-third of participants had positive attitudes toward online learning. The major challenges facing students during online learning include distraction of the learning environment (80%), unstable internet connectivity (75%), lack of motivation (70%), limited technical skills (41%), and limited broadband data (34%). In conclusion, the knowledge and practice toward COVID-19 was good in less than half of Malaysian university students. Attitudes to the controlling of COVID- 19 were positive, while the attitudes toward online learning were neutral among most of the Malaysian university students. Challenges toward online learning are diverse and include both technical and student-related problems.Copyright © 2022 University of Baghdad - College of Pharmacy. All rights reserved.

ASSOCIATIONS BETWEEN PHYSICAL ACTIVITY AND MENTAL HEALTH AMONG MALAYSIAN ADULTS DURING COVID 19 PANDEMIC IN MALAYSIA

Physical inactivity was recognized as the fourth risk factor of death and the current Covid-19 pandemic had increased the probability of society becoming less physically active. These contributed to adverse mental changes. Therefore, our main objective was to study the association of physical activity and mental health among adults in Malaysia during Covid-19. A cross-sectional study was conducted through an online survey and 1161 Malaysian adults were recruited in the study. DASS 21 and IPAQ 7 questionnaires were used to access their mental health and physical activity among adults in Malaysia. A total of 1161 participants (267 males and 894 female) were included in the study. Overall, there were participants having average depression score of 1.55 (SD=1.54) that comprises of normal (40.1%), mild (11.7%), moderate (19.7%), severe (9.8%) and extremely severe (18.6%). As for anxiety, the average is 1.96 (SD=1.65) that included normal (33.5%), mild (6.9%), moderate (20.4%), severe (8.3%) and extremely severe (30.9%). The average for stress-induced participants was 0.93 (SD=1.31) that consisted of normal (59.9%), mild (10.9%), moderate (11.7%), severe (10.9%) and extremely severe (6.5%). There was a significant association of depression, anxiety and stress levels (DASS-21) with age (p<0.001), marital status (p<0.001) and employment status (p<0.001). There was no significant association between low, moderate and high physical activity with levels of depression, anxiety and stress. Instead, there was significance association between level of depression, anxiety and stress towards sociodemographic characteristic such as age, marital status and employment status © 2022, Malaysian Journal of Public Health Medicine.All Rights Reserved.

Mobile Malaysian Sign Language Application

Due to the Covid-19 plague, children with hearing misfortune have experienced challenges in learning and practicing sign language due to need of educational services and learning assets. The next considerations for creating an educational mobile learning application to help deaf kids learn Malaysian Sign Language (MSL). The investigation was conducted through gatherings based on inquire about and interviews with subject matter experts. Instructors recommend that within the current circumstance, versatile learning application are the foremost reasonable stage for understudies to memorize or as an extra learning strategy in arrange to educate them well. This research was conducted through research-based and interview sessions with subject matter experts and followed the Multimedia Mobile Content Development (MMCD) methodology as it was shown to help accelerate development activities and ensure that the application would work and execute as planned. Once the application is developed, students from Sekolah Kebangsaan Silabukan in Lahad Datu, Sabah, will participate in beta testing. Based on the results of user acceptance tests, the application has received positive reviews from its target users. As such, the project's goals are said to have been achieved. At the conclusion of the study, the advantages, limitations and future work of Pocket Sign Language were also identified. © 2022 IEEE.

Arterial thromboembolism (ATE) and mortality among COVID-19 patients in the intensive care unit (ICU): prevalence and risk factors

Objective: To investigate the prevalence of arterial thromboembolic (TE) complications including stroke, peripheral arterial disease (PAD) and myocardial infarction (MI) and mortality among COVID-19 patients admitted to an ICU at a single centre hospital in the area of Klang Valley, Malaysia. The proportions of patients with ATE complication who died, and factors associated with the occurrence of ATE were explored. Method(s): Patients admitted to a single centre ICU with PCR confirmed of SARS-CoV-2 virus and received adequate thromboprophylaxis within February 2020-2021 were included in this retrospective Malaysian cohort study. ATE event is a combination of >=1 stroke, PAD and MI. Result(s): Mean (SD) age 56.6 (13.7), 63.5% were male, 61.6% Malays, median (IQR) 7 (3-14) days of ICU admission, 64.2%, 53.2 % and 20.9% had underlying hypertension, diabetes and obesity respectively. Of 534 patients, 21 (3.9%) developed stroke, 39 (7.3%) MI, 1(0.2%) PAD and 22.8% died despite adequate thromboprophylaxis. In total, only 58 (10.9%) developed ATE event during their ICU admission. Significantly higher proportions of COVID-19 patients admitted to ICU who developed complications of stroke (12.3% vs. 1.5;p<0.001) and MI (16.4% vs. 4.6%;p<0.001) died. Age, duration of ICU admission, proportion of underlying hypertension, stroke, IHD, diabetes, kidney disease, troponin, D-Dimer were significantly greater among those with ATE events. Predictors of ATE event on multivariate logistic regression analysis were duration of ICU admission [OR 1.0 (95% CI 1.00-1.04)] and troponin [OR 1.3 (95% CI 1.1-1.4)] level. Conclusion(s): The overall prevalence of ATE complication among the severely ill COVID-19 patients was low (10.9%) with the overall mortality of 22.8% despite adequate thromboprophylaxis. Key predictors of ATE events included increased troponin level and duration of ICU admission. Perhaps a more aggressive preventive strategies can be undertaken to prevent further increase in the prevalence of arterial thromboembolism and death.

Impact of COVID-19 on dietary intake, sleeping patterns and physical activity levels among Malaysian University students.

OBJECTIVES: The COVID-19 pandemic has brought a significant impact on people's behaviour and lifestyles. Limited research has been conducted on the impact of COVID-19 on Malaysian university students' lifestyle modifications. This study aims to identify the impact of COVID-19 on dietary intake, sleeping patterns and physical activity levels among Malaysian university students. METHODS: A total of 261 university students were recruited. Sociodemographic and anthropometric data were collected. Dietary intake was assessed using PLifeCOVID-19 questionnaire, sleep quality was assessed using Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index Questionnaire (PSQI) while physical activity level was assessed using International Physical Activity Questionnaire-Short Forms (IPAQ-SF). SPSS was used to perform statistical analysis. RESULTS: 30.7% of the participants adhered to the unhealthy dietary pattern, 48.7% had poor quality of sleep and 59.4% engaged in low physical activity levels during the pandemic. Unhealthy dietary pattern was significantly associated with a lower IPAQ category (p=0.013), and increased time spent sitting (p=0.027) during the pandemic. Participants being underweight before the pandemic (aOR=2.472, 95% CI=1.358-4.499), increased takeaway meal consumption (aOR=1.899, 95% CI=1.042-3.461), increased snacking between meals consumption (aOR=2.989, 95% CI=1.653-5.404) and engaged in a low level of physical activity during pandemic (aOR=1.935, 95% CI=1.028-3.643) were the predictors of unhealthy dietary pattern. CONCLUSIONS: The university students' dietary intake, sleeping patterns, and physical activity levels were impacted in different ways during the pandemic. Strategies and interventions should be developed and implemented to improve the dietary intake and lifestyle of the students.

The Prevalence and Association of Cyberbullying and Depression in the Malaysian Adolescent Population During the COVID-19 Pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought about the implementation of distance and online learning in educational settings, causing cyberbullying to become a rising issue as Internet use has become a necessity among adolescents for their learning and schooling during the pandemic. This increased use of the Internet due to the current mode of learning has led to the emergence of more frequent experiences of depression, as there is a great lack of social interaction among school adolescents. Therefore, this study seeks to examine the prevalence of cyberbullying and depression and the association between the two among Malaysian adolescents during the COVID-19 pandemic period. A cross-sectional study using convenience was carried out via Survey Monkey, reaching a total of 1591 respondents in Malaysia. The data collected was then analyzed using the binary logistic regression test with single independent variable. Based on the survey results, 281 (17.6%) respondents self-reported to having severe depression, while 726 (45.6%) respondents self-reported to having no depression. Incidences of cyberbullying were reported to have occurred among 619 (38.9%) respondents, with daily incidences being reported as happening the most frequent (16.5%), followed by a couple of times a month (14.1%), and once a month (13.1%). It was also found that cyberbullying experiences during the pre-pandemic (OR = 1.41, 95%, C.I. = 1.003, 1.978) and post-pandemic periods (OR = 5.21, 95%, C.I. = 3.120, 8.690) are associated with depression. Additionally, females (OR = 2.94, 95%, C.I. = 2.388, 3.613) and those within the age group of 16 to 18 years (OR = 1.23, 95%, C.I. = 1.008, 1.503) achieve a high depression score. This study concludes that there is a high prevalence of cyberbullying and depression among Malaysian adolescents. Therefore, we urge for immediate interventions to be carried out to monitor the online activity, incidences of cyberbullying, and depression issues among Malaysian adolescents. © 2023 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.