Abstract
Individuals are dependent on institutions (e.g., universities, governments, healthcare systems) to protect their safety and advocate for their needs. When institutions harm the individuals who depend on them, they commit institutional betrayal, which has been associated with numerous negative outcomes in prior research. Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, students have entrusted universities to protect both their health and their educational opportunities. However, many universities have failed to meet these expectations, and it is likely that many students experience COVID-19-related institutional betrayal. In two similar studies, we examined the prevalence and correlates of institutional betrayal among undergraduate students at a large, public university in the Northwest United States during the fall 2020 and winter 2021quarters. In both studies, more than half of students endorsed at least one type of COVID-19-related institutional betrayal, and higher institutional betrayal ratings were significantly correlated with both current trauma symptoms and COVID-19-related avoidance and intrusion cognitions. In Study 2, the relationship between COVID-19-related institutional betrayal and current trauma symptoms remained significant, even when controlling for gender, personal and familial COVID-19 infection, and past trauma history. These results indicate that COVID-19 institutional betrayal is common and may be uniquely associated with distress among undergraduate students. We suggest it would behoove university institutions to reduce COVID-19-related institutional betrayal.
Highlights
In the absence of any national strategy for tackling the coronavirus pandemic, colleges and universities in the United States are on their own when it comes to deciding whether and how to bring students back for the autumn term, which has already started for some institutions
Many universities, including the authors’ own institution, have enacted numerous policies that aim to curb the spread of COVID-19, many have simultaneously created situations in which COVID-19 transmission is more likely, which have led to rising rates of infection on campuses
COVID-19-specific trauma cognitions were measured using an altered version of the Impact of Events Scale (IES) [15] that has been adapted to apply to COVID-19 [18]
Summary
We examined the prevalence and correlates of institutional betrayal among undergraduate students at a large, public university in the Northwest United States during the fall 2020 and winter 2021quarters. In Study 2, the relationship between COVID-19-related institutional betrayal and current trauma symptoms remained significant, even when controlling for gender, personal and familial COVID-19 infection, and past trauma history. These results indicate that COVID-19 institutional betrayal is common and may be uniquely associated with distress among undergraduate students.
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