Date of Graduation

Spring 2022

Degree

Master of Science in Psychology

Department

Psychology

Committee Chair

Michelle Visio

Abstract

Though stress in postsecondary education is a highly researched topic, the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic has created many new questions that require answers. It is important to connect total perceived stress in undergraduate students with academic, COVID-19, and distance-learning factors and examine the effectiveness of interventions on stress and anxiety during the pandemic. This research determines the efficacy of mindfulness stress interventions (cognitive-behavioral, guided meditation, and music) for individual differences in stress, self- efficacy, and anxiety and links these variables to performance. This study measures levels of different types of stress (total perceived, distance-learning, academic, and COVID-19) for undergraduate students during the COVID-19 pandemic. I examined the effectiveness of mindfulness interventions and found that cognitive-behavioral, guided meditation, and music interventions all significantly reduced stress and anxiety and increased academic self-efficacy. There were no significant differences in type of intervention.

Keywords

stress, students, COVID-19, pandemic, distance learning, academic self-efficacy, anxiety, performance

Subject Categories

Industrial and Organizational Psychology | School Psychology

Copyright

© Katie A. Jones

Open Access

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