Covid-19 anxiety predicts burnout among university students: The mediating roles of hope, adaptability, and anti-mattering.

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic negatively impacted various aspects of mental health among university students, including their academic performance. The transition to online learning, changes in tasks, and isolation at home all contributed to increased burnout among students. The current study aimed to test the association between COVID-19 anxiety and burnout among university students, and whether hope, adaptability, and anti-mattering mediate the association between COVID-19 anxiety and burnout. The study involved 450 university students from three states Canada, Russia, and Iran, consisting of 390 females and 60 males. Among the participants, 9.8% had a higher diploma, 63.8% held a master's degree, and 2.2% possessed a PhD. Results of the correlational analysis that COVID-19 anxiety was positively correlated with burnout (r = 0.31, p < .01) and anti--mattering (r = 0.44, p < .01). Conversely, COVID-19 anxiety was negatively correlated with hope (r = -0.20, p < .01) and adaptability (r = -0.10, p < .05). Regarding mediation analysis, the findings revealed that hope, adaptability, and anti-mattering mediated the association between COVID-19 anxiety and burnout among university students. The findings of the current study emphasize the need to promote hope, social adjustment, and a mattering among university students, as these factors could help enhance their mental health and prevent issues such as substance abuse, which students might resort to as negative coping strategies to deal with psychological stress and burnout related to pandemics.