Pandemic Emotional Impact on Academic and Professional Worries while Controlling for Satisfaction with Life and Perceived Social Support

Abstract

In this article, we test the associations between the Covid-19 pandemic’s emotional impact and academic and professional worries among social work students when controlling for life satisfaction as a part of subjective well-being and perceived social support. Therefore, we aim to test the controlling variables’ role as mediators in explaining how academic and professional worries can be reduced. The survey was conducted in Romania in 2021 on a sample of 329 students attending full-time courses in the field of social work, both bachelor’s studies and master. The study was cross-sectional but considered a causal orientation for the variables (i.e., past pandemic emotional impact – present social support and satisfaction with life – future academic and professional worries). The findings showed that although life satisfaction does not significantly determine academic and professional worries, perceived social support has a significant direct effect. Indirect effects indicate a decrease in academic and professional worry when controlling for perceived social support alone and while controlling for both perceived social support and satisfaction with life. Additionally, our findings show that students who were less emotionally impacted by the pandemic effects had no worries about their capacity to continue or complete their studies or their employment perspectives.