“I hate it, it’s ruining my life”: College students’ early academic year experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Abstract

Due to strategies aimed at controlling COVID-19, governments across the world implemented social distancing and stay-at-home measures, which has resulted in isolation and economic crisis (Golberstein et al., 2019). To date, few studies have examined individuals' experiences of COVID-19, but these have mostly been focused on frontline workers and the medical field. The purpose of this study was to determine how COVID-19 has affected collegiate student mental health by assessing their perceived challenges and coping strategies. A total of 585 students completed an online survey between July 27 and October 12, 2020, which included open-ended questions on challenges they faced due to COVID-19. Students' average age was 22.46 years, with 75% identifying as female, and primarily from racial/ ethnicity groups of Hispanic/Latino (39.5%), White/Caucasian (33.3%), Asian (11.5%) and Black/ African American (4.6%). Content analysis revealed themes for challenges due to COVID-19 and coping strategies. Challenges included (a) mental, emotional, physical challenges, (b) online learning, (c) confronting the "new normal", (d) concern for self and others, (e) positive experiences, and (f) societal challenges. Coping strategies were classified into (a) problem-focused coping, (b) emotion-focused coping, and (c) avoidant coping. Emotion-focused coping strategies were indicated by many; however, students engaged in all coping dimensions during the pandemic. Administrators, mental health care workers, and other university staff can use these themes as a framework to redistribute resources for students to better cope with adverse situations to promote academic, mental, and personal success.

Stress and depression in undergraduate students during the COVID-19 pandemic: Nursing students compared to undergraduate students in non-nursing majors

“…University counseling centers quickly pivoted to virtual and distance support models as campuses closed across the country. Despite the pandemic's devastating mental health impact on college students, counseling centers experienced dramatic decreases in the number of students seeking support ( Madrigal & Blevins, 2021, in press ). In fact, only 15% of students who rated their mental health as poor engaged in campus mental health services during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic ( Ezarik, 2021 ).…”

The relationship between just world belief and wellbeing, cheating behaviors, and academic work behaviors during COVID 19 among university students

“…Thus, in the university context, justice experiences with fellow students and lecturers were examined. Interventions against COVID-19 required universities to adapt teaching 4 , 55 . At the University of Cologne, digital synchronous and asynchronous teaching was offered, which led to contact reduction among students and with lecturers.…”

“…The lecturers' justice-related behaviors are also transparent at the digital level through the given rules and norms. However, the experience of fellow student justice was distorted by the lack of social contact 55 .…”

The development of student teachers’ teacher self-efficacy before and during the COVID-19 pandemic

“…Thirdly, it is possible that the stagnation or decline in teacher self-efficacy in the COVID-19 group was a product of the disruption to their learning caused by the COVID-19 pandemic more generally, rather than the lack of school practicums specifically. For example, research examining the impact of online teaching on university students has found that students perceive themselves as learning less online as compared to face-to-face teaching ( Usher et al, 2021 ), as well as experiencing more negative emotions towards their learning ( Madrigal & Blevins, 2021 ; Usher et al, 2021 ). For student teachers specifically, the removal of practical experiences in schools led to anxiety about how it would impact their own teacher development and ability to graduate ( Kidd & Murray, 2020 ).…”