Abstract:
BACKGROUND: Student dropout has been a key issue facing universities for many
years. The COVID-19 pandemic was expected to exacerbate these trends;
however, international literature has produced conflicting findings. Limited
literature from Africa has investigated the impact of COVID-19 on student
dropout trends, despite the documented devastation, including increased risk
of food insecurity and mental distress, caused by the pandemic.
OBJECTIVE: This work seeks to understand the impact of food insecurity and
mental distress on student dropout during the COVID-19 pandemic.
METHODS: Using a cross-sectional research design, first-year undergraduate
students from a large South African university were recruited via email to
participate in a survey between September and October 2020. The Household
Food Insecurity Access Scale (HFIAS) was used to measure food insecurity and
the Patient Health Questionnaire Anxiety and Depression Scale (PHQ-ADS) was
used to measure mental distress. Multivariate regression was used to investigate
factors associated with student dropout.
RESULTS: The student dropout rate was 10.5% (95% CI: 8.2-13.2). The prevalence
of severe food insecurity was 25.7% (95% CI: 22.3-29.4) and the prevalence of
severe mental distress symptoms was 26.7% (95% CI: 23.3-30.4). Dropout rates
and levels of food insecurity were highest among students residing in remote
areas during the lockdown at 19.2% and 43.6%, respectively. The multivariate
logistic regression revealed that being male increased the probability of dropout
almost three-fold (odds ratio (OR) = 2.70; 95% CI: 1.48-4.89, p =0.001)). Being
moderately food insecure increased the odds of dropout more than two-fold
(OR=2.50; 95% CI:1.12-5.55, p=0.025), and experiencing severe mental distress
symptoms increased the odds of dropout seven-fold (OR=7.08; 95% CI:2.67-
18.81, p<0.001).
CONCLUSION: While acknowledging that various factors and complexities
contribute to student dropout, the increased vulnerability to food insecurity
and mental distress, stemming from issues such as widespread job losses and
isolation experienced during the pandemic, may have also had an impact on
dropout. This work reiterates the importance of directing additional support to
students who are food insecure and those who are experiencing mental distress
in order to mitigate university student dropout.
