IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v19y2022i7p4398-d788190.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on Academic Stress and Perceived Classroom Climate in Spanish University Students

Author

Listed:
  • Nicolás Ruiz-Robledillo

    (Department of Health Psychology, University of Alicante, 03690 Alicante, Spain)

  • Juan Vela-Bermejo

    (Department of Innovation and Didactic Training, University of Alicante, 03690 Alicante, Spain)

  • Violeta Clement-Carbonell

    (Department of Health Psychology, University of Alicante, 03690 Alicante, Spain)

  • Rosario Ferrer-Cascales

    (Department of Health Psychology, University of Alicante, 03690 Alicante, Spain)

  • Cristian Alcocer-Bruno

    (Department of Health Psychology, University of Alicante, 03690 Alicante, Spain)

  • Natalia Albaladejo-Blázquez

    (Department of Health Psychology, University of Alicante, 03690 Alicante, Spain)

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused several changes in society, especially in the educational context, where several learning methodologies and social interactions have been modified significantly. This fact could have had a negative impact on academic stress levels of students and the classroom climate, especially in the university context. The main aim of the present study was to identify changes in academic stress and the perceived classroom climate caused by COVID-19 in a sample of Spanish university students. Academic stress was evaluated trough the Stressor Academic Scale (SAS) and perceived classroom climate employing the Perceived Classroom Responsibility Climate (PCRC) questionnaire. A longitudinal study was conducted. 135 students (97 females and 38 males) from the Gastronomy ( n = 31) and Criminology ( n = 104) degrees were evaluated before and after the COVID-19 lockdown in Spain. Academic stress levels and perceived classroom climate were analyzed before (Time 1) and after (Time 2) the lockdown declaration. An increase in academic stress was found, especially in the categories regarding Teachers’ Methodological Deficiencies, Academic Over-Burden and Beliefs About Performances. Females and final year students suffered higher levels of academic stress. No differences were found between Time 1 and 2 in perceived classroom climate. The obtained results point out a significant increase of academic stress in university students due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Spain. The implemented educational changes and the uncertainty that resulted from the pandemic could have a significant negative impact on mental health in this population, resulting in higher levels of academic stress, especially in females and final year students. Future studies should analyze the strategies that students are employing to cope with these educational challenges and intervention strategies to promote them in the context of higher education.

Suggested Citation

  • Nicolás Ruiz-Robledillo & Juan Vela-Bermejo & Violeta Clement-Carbonell & Rosario Ferrer-Cascales & Cristian Alcocer-Bruno & Natalia Albaladejo-Blázquez, 2022. "Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on Academic Stress and Perceived Classroom Climate in Spanish University Students," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(7), pages 1-15, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:7:p:4398-:d:788190
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/7/4398/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/7/4398/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Andrew Denovan & Ann Macaskill, 2017. "Stress and Subjective Well-Being Among First Year UK Undergraduate Students," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 18(2), pages 505-525, April.
    2. Carlos Laranjeira & Maria Anjos Dixe & Olga Valentim & Zaida Charepe & Ana Querido, 2021. "Mental Health and Psychological Impact during COVID-19 Pandemic: An Online Survey of Portuguese Higher Education Students," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(1), pages 1-15, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Eileen Heumann & Jannis Trümmler & Christiane Stock & Stefanie M. Helmer & Heide Busse & Sarah Negash & Claudia R. Pischke, 2023. "Study Conditions and University Students’ Mental Health during the Pandemic: Results of the COVID-19 German Student Well-Being Study (C19 GSWS)," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(7), pages 1-15, March.
    2. Xinyi Li & Hongying Liu & Ming Kuang & Haijiang Li & Wen He & Junlong Luo, 2022. "Effectiveness of Digital Cognitive Behavior Therapy for the Treatment of Insomnia: Spillover Effects of dCBT," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(15), pages 1-15, August.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Haiyang Lu & Peng Nie & Alfonso Sousa-Poza, 2021. "The Effect of Parental Educational Expectations on Adolescent Subjective Well-Being and the Moderating Role of Perceived Academic Pressure: Longitudinal Evidence for China," Child Indicators Research, Springer;The International Society of Child Indicators (ISCI), vol. 14(1), pages 117-137, February.
    2. Rute Mendes & Wanessa Cristina Baccon & Carlos Laranjeira, 2023. "Fear of COVID-19, Mental Health and Resilient Coping in Young Adult Male Inmates: A Portuguese Cross-Sectional Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(8), pages 1-14, April.
    3. Jesús de la Fuente & Francisco Javier Peralta-Sánchez & José Manuel Martínez-Vicente & Flavia H. Santos & Salvatore Fadda & Martha Leticia Gaeta-González, 2020. "Do Learning Approaches Set the Stage for Emotional Well-Being in College Students?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(17), pages 1-23, August.
    4. Stefano Quarta & Annalisa Levante & María-Teresa García-Conesa & Flavia Lecciso & Egeria Scoditti & Maria Annunziata Carluccio & Nadia Calabriso & Fabrizio Damiano & Giuseppe Santarpino & Tiziano Verr, 2022. "Assessment of Subjective Well-Being in a Cohort of University Students and Staff Members: Association with Physical Activity and Outdoor Leisure Time during the COVID-19 Pandemic," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(8), pages 1-26, April.
    5. Kailin Cheng & Jiangqun Liao, 2023. "Coping with Coronavirus Pandemic: Risk Perception Predicts Life Optimism," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 24(1), pages 351-371, January.
    6. Marta Czekirda & Patrycja Misztal-Okońska & Anna Włoszczak-Szubzda & Mariusz Goniewicz & Mateusz Cybulski & Krystyna Kowalczuk & Noemi Jaszyna & Maria Pyć & Mariusz Gnat & Joanna Girzelska & Ewa Guz &, 2022. "Objective and Subjective Stress Parameters in Response to High and Low-Fidelity Simulation Activities," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(5), pages 1-12, March.
    7. Blanca Rosa García-Rivera & Ignacio Alejandro Mendoza-Martínez & Jorge Luis García-Alcaraz & Jesús Everardo Olguín-Tiznado & Claudia Camargo Wilson & Mónica Fernanda Araníbar & Pedro García-Alcaraz, 2022. "Influence of Resilience on Burnout Syndrome of Faculty Professors," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(2), pages 1-19, January.
    8. Holly Blake & Ikra Mahmood & Gonxhe Dushi & Mehmet Yildirim & Elizabeth Gay, 2021. "Psychological Impacts of COVID-19 on Healthcare Trainees and Perceptions towards a Digital Wellbeing Support Package," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(20), pages 1-25, October.
    9. Choi, Changyong & Lee, Juyeon & Yoo, Min Sang & Ko, Eunhye, 2019. "South Korean children's academic achievement and subjective well-being: The mediation of academic stress and the moderation of perceived fairness of parents and teachers," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 100(C), pages 22-30.
    10. Volker C. Franke & Charles N. Elliott, 2021. "Optimism and Social Resilience: Social Isolation, Meaninglessness, Trust, and Empathy in Times of COVID-19," Societies, MDPI, vol. 11(2), pages 1-17, April.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:7:p:4398-:d:788190. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.