Why university students are technostressed with remote classes: Study-Family conflict, satisfaction with university life, and academic performance

Abstract

Due to the global effects of COVID-19, most universities quickly went online and sent their students home, switching from traditional face-to-face classes to video conferencing platforms. Massive virtual protests in several countries showed signs that university students suffered from technostress, questioning the assumption that “digital natives” are better prepared for technology-mediated learning. We analyzed whether one cause of this technostress was the obligation to share home space and family time with studies. We also analyzed whether this technostress affected satisfaction with university life and, ultimately, academic performance. We tested the hypotheses using structural equation modeling and analyzed data from 189 college students. Our main conclusion is that study-family conflict given remote learning affects academic performance in students. The effect of this conflict on performance is mediated by technostress and satisfaction with university life. The perception of invasion and overload due to remote learning causes dissatisfaction with university life in students, and this dissatisfaction decreases academic performance. Higher education institutions should become concerned about this problem and take action.