Factors Associated With Social Work Students’ Academic Stress During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A National Survey

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ABSTRACT

The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted individuals across the world and disrupted societal systems, including educational institutions. The aim of the current cross-sectional survey of U.S. social work students was to describe: (1) students’ experiences of COVID-19-related stress, academic stress, and access to supports; (2) changes in academic stress following the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic; and (3) factors that contributed to a change in academic stress following the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. An independent samples t-test identified an increase in students’ academic stress following the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and multivariate regression determined factors contributing to levels of student stress, including program support and access to academic resources. Implications for social work programs’ responses to disasters are discussed.

Acknowledgments

This article is one of three to fulfill the requirement for the lead author’s dissertation. I thank Dr. James Ellor, dissertation committee member, for his advice to adopt the Coronavirus Impact Scale for this study and his guidance as a member of my dissertation committee.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Aynsley H. M. Scheffert

Aynsley H. M. Scheffert is BSW Director and Assistant Professor of Social Work at Bethel University and PhD student at Garland School of Social Work, Baylor University. Danielle E. Parrish is Professor at the Garland School of Social Work, Baylor University. Helen Harris is Professor at Garland School of Social Work, Baylor University.