Sex as a Predictor of Psychological Distress Among College of Medical Science Students, University of Guyana

Objectives: To explore the relationship between sex, psychological distress and disturbance of daily living activities of College of Medical Science students at the University of Guyana. Designs & Methods: The study was cross-sectional and utilised convenience sampling to select participants who provided consent before answering a questionnaire. The study used a modified Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-Being Scale to evaluate students' well-being, mental health, concerns, medication usage, and coping strategies. Results: The study showed that there is a significant association between mental- health status based on Warwick-Edinburgh Mental wellbeing groups and the sex of students. (X² = 11.782, df =1, p< 0.001). An odds ratio showed that females in the health science faculty were three (9) times more likely to experience psychological distress than male students (OR: 9.2488 95 %, CI:5.2587 to 16.2665, Z statistic 7.722, Significance level P < 0.0001). A Shapiro-Wilk’s test assessed normality of the population from which the modified Warwick-Edinburgh mental-health well-being scores were taken - Test statistic W= 0.993, df: 289, p-value: 0.175; test scores were normally distributed. The “T-test revealed a significant difference between the mean scores for psychological distress for each sex, t (3.331), df = 287, p<0.001.” The effect size for the difference was small to medium (d=0.464). Conclusion: These findings underscore the urgency of gender-sensitive mental-health interventions and support systems, especially within academics.