The Impact of Online Learning on Physical and Mental Health in University Students during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

Higher education organizations have been influenced by the COVID-19 pandemic. During school closures, online teaching and learning has become a new routine that may lead to changes in lifestyles and adversely affect university students’ health. Therefore, this study was to understand the potential impact of online learning on physical and mental health by investigating the differences in physical activity, psychological distress, and student life stress in Taiwanese university students between the in-class learning and online learning periods. A total of 181 students were recruited from a local university. All participants were requested to complete an online survey and self-report physical activity, psychological distress, and life stress in the in-class learning and online learning periods, respectively. The results indicated a significant reduction in physical activity of various intensities (p < 0.05). Specifically, male university students showed a greater decrease in vigorous physical activity compared to their female peers. Yet, there was no significant increase in psychological distress and life stress from the in-class learning period to the online learning period. In summary, physical activity drastically reduces during the online learning period in Taiwanese university students. Notably, male students may be at greater risk of insufficient participation in vigorous physical activity.

Opinions on the impact of studying/working remotely on vision impairment and the use of eye hygiene principles

“…In this study, almost half, 44.85%, of the respondents had a subjective feeling that their eyesight had deteriorated since they started studying/working online, and 19.07% declared that the deterioration of their vision had been confirmed by an examination with a specialist. Also, other authors report that more than 83% of e-learning learners have some kind of ophthalmic problem, because the electronic device emits electromagnetic light that adversely affects vision [7].…”

Through the COVID-19 to Prospect Online School Learning: Voices of Students from China, Lebanon, and the US

“…Countries' "stay at home" orders, lockdown policies, or self-segregation modes have caused people, especially students, to have significantly decreased physical activities [12]. In fact, studies have clearly shown that when students are not at schools, such as during summer vacations and long weekends, they are less physically active and have longer sedentary time or screen time [13].…”

Sociodemographic and Digital Education Factors Are Associated to General Health, Coping Strategies, and Academic Outcomes of Undergraduate Students during the Post-Pandemic Period

“…To date, vaccinations have proven to be an effective strategy reducing the spread of the COVID-19 infection. Despite this, the pandemic notably affected various aspects of teaching and learning [ 11 , 12 ].…”

“…Despite the great interest, little is known about the impact of changes in learning modalities on undergraduate students’ mental health and academic performance. In their study, the authors of [ 12 ] found no significant differences in students’ psychological distress between the face-to-face (f2f) modality and online learning. Moreover, while some studies highlighted students’ comparative preference for online learning over f2f [ 40 ], others pointed out their negative opinions of remote learning due to technical problems [ 41 ].…”