Impact of coronavirus outbreak events, perceptions of sense of safety and distance learning among college students during the COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

Abstract: A pandemic substantially affects a number of areas of social life. Significant changes have occurred in the area of education, including higher education. In the summer semester of the academic year 2019/2020, universities in Poland, within a few weeks, switched from full-time teaching to distance learning. It undoubtedly brought about among students a certain level of uncertainty about the development of events and the need to act in changing circumstances and involved a revised communication pattern and interaction on many functioning levels. The purpose of this study was to determine the impact of coronavirus outbreak events on perceptions of feelings of safety and higher education during the COVID-19 pandemic from the perspective of college student participants from universities across Poland. The study was conducted in May and June 2020 among 371 students in Poland, using computer-assisted web interviewing (CAWI). Two standardized tools were used, i.e. the Polish version of the Impact Event Scale-Revised (IES-R) and Safety Experience Questionnaire (SEQ), as well as the proprietary survey questionnaire. The survey was posted on Google.com and was shared with the respondents online via Facebook. Students demonstrated a significant effort to rid themselves of trauma-related thoughts, emotions, or conversations. A sense of security was observed; however, it significantly decreased as the PTSD score increased. Men have a significantly higher sense of safety than women. There was no evidence of an influence of the field of study, year of study, or type of education on the severity of traumatic stress and experiencing safety. In terms of the impact of the epidemic on aspects of higher education, respondents showed concern about the quality of interpersonal relationships and the financial situation of the family. The traumatic stress severity index was found to be significantly higher on the substantive and technical aspects of education. The students' moods seem to have no relationship with the gender of the respondent or the type of education. The impact of events related to the outbreak of the Sars-Cov-2 virus can be observed in the disturbance of the sense of security among participants of different majors and years of study in Poland. Students' fears are associated with a change in the realities of student life in both educational and social dimensions.