Negative psychological and educational impacts of Corona Virus Anxiety on Chinese university students: Exploring university students’ perceptions

COVID-19 has greatly affected various aspects of societies worldwide, including the mental health and quality of education for students. Different studies investigated the consequences of the pandemic, but only a few studies have addressed the negative psychological and educational impacts of Corona Virus Anxiety (CVA). This study addresses the effects of CVA on Chinese students and explores university perceptions of its consequences. A mixed-methods research design was used, with 440 university students selected through convenience sampling. The researchers used the CVA scale, generalized anxiety scale, mental health questionnaire, and a self-report scale to assess the students' educational attainment. In addition, 14 students were interviewed for the qualitative phase of the study. Data from the quantitative phase were analyzed using Pearson correlation and descriptive statistics, while content analysis techniques were employed for analyzing the qualitative data. Results showed that CVA is negatively associated with students' anxiety, stress, and depression. Furthermore, stress, anxiety, depression, and CVA were found to be negatively associated with students' GPAs. Qualitative findings revealed that CVA negatively affected students' GPAs, research projects, classroom engagement, and graduations. The findings are theoretically and practically important to universities, schools, and educational centers to avoid the effects of the CVA on students' educational attainment and mental health through appropriate planning and providing facilities to the students during the lockdown.