Fear of COVID-19 and academic stress among Palestinian university students during the pandemic: the mediating role of mental health

ABSTRACT

The widespread Coronavirus pandemic has disrupted life for students and institutions worldwide. Such impacts may have affected the students' academic performance and mental health. In the current study, we aimed to explore the mediating role of mental health between fear of COVID-19 and academic stress among Gaza's university students during the COVID-19 outbreak. The sample consisted of 315 participants, of which 230 (73%) were females. The Fear of COVID-19 Scale, Depression Anxiety Stress Scale, Symptoms Checklist-10 and Academic Stress Scale were used. Fear of COVID-19 was found to be significantly positively correlated with depression, anxiety, stress and academic stress. Also, mental health was found to play a mediating role between fear of COVID-19 and academic stress.

KEYWORDS:

• Academic stress
• fear of COVID-19
• mental health
• university students
• psychological symptoms

Data availability statement

Due to confidentiality reasons, data are available under request and authors’ careful consideration.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Basel El-Khodary

Basel El-Khodary is an Assistant Pprofessor and Head of the Department of Psychology at Islamic University Gaza, Palestine. He is interested in developmental psychopathology especially post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety, and depression. Furthermore, social work is one of his research interests.

Guido Veronese

Guido Veronese is an Associate Professor working in the Department of Human Sciences & Education, Milano-Bicocca State University, Italy. His research is focused on investigating domains and dimensions of well-being in war-affected populations using mixed-methods research designs. Psychological functioning, sources of agency, are culture-informed coping strategies are the core of his investigation. He researches in multicultural contexts, and in settings characterised by ongoing crisis such as the Gaza Strip in the Middle East, and Niger, Sub-Saharan Africa.

Marwan Diab

Dr. Marwan Diab has wide experience in the field of rehabilitation, mental health, and psychosocial support. He has authored and co-authored several scientific articles in mental health and psychosocial intervention.