Technostress and academic motivation: direct and indirect effects on university students' psychological health

Abstract

IntroductionResearch has well demonstrated that the pandemic entailed several implications among university students worldwide in terms of increased use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs), technostress, disruptions in academic goals and motivation processes, and growing psychological suffering. Responding to the new research need to go in-depth into the processes linking technostress and motivation dimensions to inform current research/interventions, the present study aimed to explore the direct effects of perceived Technostress dimensions (Techno-Overload, Work-Home Conflict, Pace of Change, Techno-Ease, Techno-Reliability, and Techno-Sociality) and Academic Motivation dimensions (Amotivation, Intrinsic, and Extrinsic Motivation dimensions) on students' perceived levels of Anxiety/Depression and test the potential indirect effect (mediating role) of Academic Motivation dimensions in the associations between Technostress and psychological health conditions.MethodsOverall, 1,541 students from five European countries (Czech Republic, Greece, Italy, Serbia, United Kingdom) completed a survey comprising a Background Information Form, the Technostress Scale, the Academic Motivation Scale-College, and the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale. Hayes' PROCESS tool was used to test direct and indirect (mediating) effects.ResultsData revealed that Techno-Overload, Work-Home Conflict, Amotivation, and Extrinsic Motivation-Introjected had a direct negative effect, whereas Techno-Ease, Techno-Reliability, Techno-Sociality, all Intrinsic Motivation dimensions, and Extrinsic Motivation-Identified had a direct protective role for students' psychological health. The significant indirect role of motivation dimensions in the associations between Technostress dimensions and Anxiety/Depression was fully supported.DiscussionFindings allow gaining further insight into the pathways of relationships between technostress, motivation, and psychological health, to be used in the current phase, featured by the complete restoration of face-to-face contacts, to inform the development of tailored research and interventions, which address lights and shadows of the technology use, and which take into account the necessity to enhance its potentials yet without impairing students' motivation and psychological health.

COVID-19-Related Stressors and Psychophysical Health Conditions among Italian University Students: A Post Pandemic Insight

“…These symptoms should be assessed and framed by also considering the two pandemic years (from 2020 to 2022) since the pandemic experience has entailed-undoubtedly-a severe disruption in a delicate phase of their developmental life. In line with this, recent studies also highlighted a wide variety of outcomes expressing students' suffering in the academic context, such as apathy, disengagement, decreased focus and motivation [65,[72][73][74][75][76][77], delaying graduation, increasing academic procrastination, and worries about their career trajectory [20,24].…”

“…Primarily, the intensification of relationships with family members (i.e., sharing all the spaces and time when cohabitants), and the simultaneously prolonged detachment from peers and the university community may have determined long-lasting difficulties and flaws in the relational area. Additionally, the challenges of online learning (i.e., technostress) [35,65] and the potential frustration linked to the lack of possibility of enjoying-"as everyone else"-the academic community life may have also contributed to strengthening the perceived stress linked to this specific dimension. These data could, however, also reflect the efforts spent by students to re-adjust to "face-to-face" social life and (re-)join the university community.…”

Validity and reliability of the Korean version of the Digital Burnout Scale

“…In addition, using smartphones has been associated with decreased walking speed and impaired balance (64). A causal link has also been found between mental health symptoms and issues stemming from excessive digital use (33,45). For this, studies have emphasized the elevated risk of emotional vulnerabilities associated with excessive digital device use, such as heightened depression, diminished self-esteem, and increased stress perception (3,31).…”

“…As the time spent using digital devices in daily life rapidly increases, university students find themselves continuously exposed to and utilizing these devices for their studies (16,21,45). While such use of digital devices can revolutionize the academic environment and enhance efficiency (22), it also heightens the risk of digital burnout (3,34).…”

Exploring college students’ technostress phenomenon in using ed-tech

“…The feeling of being invaded by technology has also been proven to strongly affect students' technostress (Upadhyaya & Vrinda, 2021). Another techno stressor, techno overload, is also reported to positively connect with students' anxiety in learning (Vallone et al, 2023). It infers that tension induced by frequent use of technology will influence students' negativity of technology.…”