Mitigating Depression, Anxiety, and Stress among Undergraduate Students through Online Learning Satisfaction

Abstract

While online learning became the face of education in Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) in the Philippines, not all schools were prepared to immediately transition to online learning. A recent study by Fawaz and Samaha (2021) shown that undergraduate students in Lebanon experienced depression and anxiety due to the workload experienced from moving to full online learning. With the difficulties faced by tertiary students, this study builds on the recent work of Ali and Ahmad (2011) that explores how student satisfaction in online learning courses can mitigate depression, anxiety, and stress. Students-Instructor Satisfaction, Instructor's Performance, Course Evaluation, Student Autonomy, Authentic Learning, and Personal Relevance were the constructs used in the study that have been previously investigated to aid student satisfaction in online learning. To determine Depression, Anxiety, and Stress (DAS), the DASS21 scale was used. Through convenience sampling, ninety (90) college students from various universities in the Philippines answered the survey through Google Forms. Descriptive statistics have revealed that the students suffered from moderate depression, anxiety and mild stress. For their online learning satisfaction, descriptive statistics show agreement in terms of satisfaction. This implies that while students experience some online learning satisfaction, students suffer from DAS. Looking at how satisfaction can affect DAS, regression shows that online learning satisfaction can help reduce stress. However, for anxiety, it failed to reach statistical significance. While the study does not necessarily imply that online learning satisfaction is the only factor for DAS, this simple revealed a possible relationship between online learning satisfaction and DAS. Possible implication includes managerial decision-making that would help students who suffer or have difficulty with online learning. Only by addressing online learning issues can help improve students' online learning satisfaction.