Perceived Stress, Individual Psychological Resources, and Social Resources Among Computer Science Students During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, university students worldwide have experienced drastic changes in their academic and social lives, with the rapid shift to online courses and contact restrictions being reported among the major stressors. In the present study, we aimed at examining students' perceived stress over the course of the pandemic as well as individual psychological and social coping resources within the theoretical framework of the Transactional Model of Stress and Coping in the specific group of STEM students. In four cross-sectional studies with a total of 496 computer science students in Germany, we found that students reported significantly higher levels of perceived stress at both measurement time points in the second pandemic semester (October/November 2020;January/February 2021) as compared to the beginning of the first (April/May 2020), indicating that students rather became sensitized to the constant pandemic-related stress exposure than habituating to the "new normal". Regarding students' coping resources in the higher education context, we found that both high (a) academic self-efficacy and (b) academic online self-efficacy as well as low (c) perceived social and academic exclusion among fellow students significantly predicted lower levels of students' (d) belonging uncertainty to their study program, which, in turn, predicted lower perceived stress at the beginning of the first pandemic semester. At the beginning of the second pandemic semester, we found that belonging uncertainty still significantly mediated the relationship between students' academic self-efficacy and perceived stress. Students' academic online self-efficacy, however, no longer predicted their uncertainty about belonging, but instead had a direct buffering effect on their perceived stress. Students' perceived social and academic exclusion among fellow students only marginally predicted their belonging uncertainty and no longer predicted their perceived stress 6 months into the pandemic. We discuss the need and importance of assessing and monitoring students' stress levels as well as faculty interventions to strengthen students' individual psychological and social coping resources in light of the still ongoing pandemic.

Influence of psychological stress and coping styles in the professional identity of undergraduate nursing students after the outbreak of COVID-19: A cross-sectional study in China.

AIM: To investigate the influencing factors in professional identity of undergraduate nursing students after the outbreak of COVID-19. DESIGN: Cross-sectional study. METHODS: The study covered 2,999 nursing students in six undergraduate nursing schools. Several self-report questionnaires were used to collect the general information, psychological stress, coping styles and professional identity of the undergraduate nursing students. RESULTS: The overall average score of the professional identity of nursing students (3.67 ± 0.51) has increased significantly after the outbreak of COVID-19. The professional identity of the undergraduate nursing students was negatively correlated with psychological stress (r = -0.23, p < .001), expectation (r = -0.12, p < .001) and avoidance (r = -0.16, p < .001), but was positively correlated with solving problems (r = 0.18, p < .001) and seeking support (r = 0.12, p < .001). Academic performance, positions, grades, reasons for choosing a nursing profession, parents or relatives engaged in nursing work and the risk degree of residence were the factors influencing the professional identity score of undergraduate nursing students' (p < .001).

A cross-sectional study of mental health status and self-psychological adjustment in nurses who supported Wuhan for fighting against the COVID-19.

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the mental health status, stressors and self-adjustment of nurses in isolation wards at different periods in Wuhan, China. BACKGROUND: Mental health issues easily occurred among the frontline medical workers of a major epidemic. However, the stressors and psychological adjustments experienced by nurses have not been well described. This is crucial to improving clinical quality and nursing safety and ensuring nurses' physical and psychological health. METHODS: We performed a cross-sectional prospective study using the Self Reporting Questionnaire-20, stressor and self-adjustment questionnaire administered to frontline nurses in Wuhan at two time points: after they had worked in isolation wards for 7-10 days (T1 ) and 2 months (T2 ). This paper complies with the STROBE reporting guideline for cross-sectional studies. RESULTS: T1 has 92 respondents, and T2 has 86. The positive rates of mental health problems were 26.09% and 9.30%, respectively, showing significantly different in the two periods. The main factors influenced mental health were self-perceived stress and only child status. The most common stressors were as follows: a large infected population, high infectivity; concerned about family's health status; high mortality if not treated in time (T1 ); and long duration of the epidemic, separate from family for a long time (T2 ). In terms of self-adjustment, 97.83%(T1 )/88.04%(T2 ) of nurses thought it was necessary, but 9(T1 ) /5(T2 ) chose to avoid addressing it, and 8(T1 ) /5(T2 ) utilised a professional psychological counselling hotline. CONCLUSIONS: Mental health problems among frontline nurses fighting COVID-19 need special attention, so administrators should offer timely counselling and strengthen effective psychosocial support to improve their mental resilience. RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE: This study surveyed the mental problems and self-adjustment status among nurses working Wuhan during the outbreak of COVID-19, to provide administrators with a scientific basis to effectively intervene.