The Psychological Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic in Remote Learning in Higher Education

• Published in: Education sciences 2021-01, Vol.11 (9), p.473
• Main Authors: Godoy, Lívea Dornela, Falcoski, Raquel, Incrocci, Roberta Monteiro, Versuti, Fabiana Maris, Padovan-Neto, Fernando E.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Anxiety; College students; Coronavirus Anxiety Scale; Coronaviruses; COVID-19; Distance Education; Distance learning; Educational Environment; Educational psychology; Electronic Learning; Foreign Countries; functional impairment; GAD-7; Generalized anxiety disorder; Higher education; In Person Learning; Learning Processes; Learning Strategies; Likert scale; Mental disorders; Mental Health; Multiple Choice Tests; Pandemics; Perceptions; Performance Factors; Pharmacology; psychology; Psychopharmacology; Public speaking; Quantitative psychology; Social Adjustment; Stress Variables; Student Attitudes; Symptoms (Individual Disorders); Undergraduate Students; Women; working and social adjustment scale; Young Adults
• ISSN: 2227-7102; 2227-7102
• DOI: 10.3390/educsci11090473

Stressful events can cause a significant impact on education; however, it is not yet clear how the interplay between anxiety, work, and social dysfunction relates to learning impairments. In this study, we investigated the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on students’ learning and mental health. This study was conducted during four modules of a remote Psychopharmacology course between 5 October and 20 December 2020. We collected data from 28 Psychology undergraduate students at the University of São Paulo, Brazil. We used pre- and post-test multiple-choice questions to obtain a quantitative measure of learning. Students completed an online survey to report demographic information, functional impairment (Work and Social Adjustment scale; WSAS), generalized anxiety (Generalized Anxiety Disorder scale; GAD-7), coronavirus anxiety (Brazilian adapted version of the Coronavirus Anxiety Scale; CAS-BR), and self-perception with the remote lectures’ methodology. In our sample, 42.9% of respondents experienced symptoms of generalized anxiety disorders (GAD-7 ≥ 15), and 53.6% had moderate to severe functional impairment (WSAS > 20). We also observed an overlapping profile of highly anxious and dysfunctional students. A chi-square test of independence revealed a relation between pairs of multiple-choice questions answers and GAD-7 scores, indicating that less anxious students were more likely to perform better in pairs of pre- and post-tests. Intriguingly, the correlational analysis suggested that students with moderate to severe functional impairment (WSAS scores > 20) were less likely to change from an incorrect to a correct answer to pairs of pre- and post-tests. This data suggests that psychological distress and anxiety states might influence students’ ability to coordinate social and work activities and performance during remote learning. Although this study evaluated a small sample of students, our data highlights the importance of investigating anxiety and functional impairment measures as part of the remote-learning curriculum.