Cognitive Flexibility’s Role in Reducing Academic Stress During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Figures & data

Figure 1 Schematic diagram to demonstrate direction of relationship between three predictor variables (cognitive flexibility, emotional repercussions and repercussions of the COVID-19 on daily life) on academic stress while controlling for the demographic variables.

Table 1 Significance of Mean Score Differences on Repercussions of COVID-19 on Daily Life, Emotional Repercussions, Cognitive Flexibility, and Academic Stress (n = 328)

Variable	Repercussions on Daily Life M (S.D.)	Emotional Repercussions M (S.D.)	Cognitive Flexibility M (S.D.)	Academic Stress M (S.D.)
Total Mean scores	7.76 (2.71)	23.95 (14.07)	61.60 (12.26)	28.00 (5.69)
Gender^¥
Male (25%)	7.99 (2.93)^ns	23.89 (13.86)^ns	60.20 (11.93)^ns	25.90 (5.94)*
Female (75%)	7.69 (2.62)	23.98 (14.17)	62.05 (12.36)	28.52 (6.21)
Age Group^¥
18–20 years (24%)	7.86 (2.59)^ns	23.58 (14.31)^ns	61.63 (11.51)^ns	28.46 (6.44) ^ns
21–25 years (76%)	7.73 (2.74)	24.07 (14.03)	61.69 (12.51)	28.02 (6.11)
Program^¥
Bachelors (90%)	7.82 (2.71)^ns	24.27 (14.25)^ns	61.73 (12.33)^ns	28.17 (6.27)^ns
Masters (10%)	7.16 (2.53)	20.94 (11.99)	61.29 (11.67)	27.74 (5.27)
Study year^#
First Year (13%)	7.43 (2.80)^ns	20.74 (13.88)^ns	61.10 (10.1)^ns	28.74 (5.24)^ns
Second Year (11%)	8.28 (2.39)	24.86 (15.22)	61.92 (13.0)	26.42 (6.80)
Third Year (33%)	7.52 (2.65)	23.26 (13.48)	62.98 (12.5)	28.25 (6.13)
Fourth Year (43%)	7.91 (2.77)	25.22 (14.24)	60.60 (12.4)	28.29 (6.30)

Notes: M, Mean; S.D, Standard Deviation; p-value significance= *p<0.05; ns=non-significant; ¥= t test; #= f-test.

Table 2 Pearson Correlation (r) Between Study Variables (n = 328)

	Repercussions of COVID-19 on daily life	Emotional Repercussions	Cognitive Flexibility	Academic Stress
Repercussions of COVID-19 on daily life	-	0.259***	−0.151**	0.171***
Emotional Repercussions	-	-	−0.129*	0.106
Cognitive Flexibility	-	-	-	−0.197***

Notes: p-value significance= ***p<0.001; **p<0.01; *p<0.05.

Table 3 Multiple Regression Analysis to Determine the Positive Role of CF in Reducing Academic Stress in University Students During the COVID-19 Pandemic (n = 328)

Predictors	Unstandardized Coefficients		Standardized Coefficients	t	95% CI for B		Collinearity Statistics
	B	Std. Error	β		Lower Bound	Upper Bound	Tolerance	VIF
(Constant)	3.61	0.43		8.33***	2.76	4.46
Gender	−0.01	0.09	−0.01	−0.08^ns	−0.197	0.181	0.93	1.07
Age	0.01	0.11	0.01	0.11^ns	−0.187	0.209	0.85	1.16
Academic Program	0.18	0.16	0.07	1.15^ns	−0.129	0.499	0.73	1.36
Year of Study	−0.02	0.04	−0.029	−0.45^ns	−0.114	0.071	0.68	1.45
Repercussions of the COVID-19 on daily life	0.32	0.15	0.11	2.09*	0.020	0.636	0.89	1.12
Emotional Repercussions	0.07	0.04	0.10	1.91**	−0.002	0.158	0.89	1.11
Cognitive Flexibility	−0.22	0.06	−0.19	−3.54***	−0.353	−0.101	0.94	1.05

Notes: p-value significance= ***p<0.001; **p<0.01; *p<0.05; ns=non-significant.