COVID-19 Lockdown-Related Changes in Mood, Health and Academic Functioning

The COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns were accompanied by an abrupt transition from face-to-face education to online education. The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on academic functioning and mood in Dutch pharmacy students and PhD candidates. A total of n = 341 participants completed an online survey including questions on mood and academic functioning, assessed retrospectively for before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. Overall, during COVID-19 lockdown, significantly more time was spent on academic activities, and study grades/output significantly improved. However, the overall effects were of small magnitude, and there was great variability among students, reporting either improved, unchanged or poorer academic functioning. Compared to before COVID-19, the lockdown periods were associated with significantly increased levels of stress, anxiety, depression, fatigue, and loneliness, and a significant reduction in optimism and happiness. Significant negative correlations were found between ‘performance quality’ and stress, ‘performance quality’ and fatigue, ‘study grades/output’ and stress, and between ‘study grades/output’ and fatigue. Correlations of mood and items related to academic interactions were not statistically significant. Differential effects were seen when the data was analyzed according to sex, living situation, and ethnicity, revealing that women, students living alone, and those with a migration background reported that COVID-19 lockdowns had greater negative mood effects and a more negative impact on academic functioning. Poorer sleep quality and reduced quality of life were significantly associated with reduced mood, as well as reduced academic performance quality and role satisfaction. Regression analysis revealed that being young and not having a non-Western migration background were predictors of improved performance quality. However, only being young was a significant predictor of improved study grades/output during the COVID-19 pandemic. Increased levels of stress and fatigue were significant predictors of both reduced performance quality and poorer study grades/output during the COVID-19 pandemic. In conclusion, for the sample as a whole, the transition to online education during the COVID-19 lockdown was judged as having significant positive effects on academic performance. The lockdown periods were associated with significantly reduced mood and reduced social interactions. It should be taken into account that about one third of students reported academic functioning to be poorer during the COVID-19 pandemic. This represents a substantial group of students who require more attention and guidance to make a successful transition to online education and cope with lockdown-associated stress and fatigue.

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Transition to Online Education during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Impact of Changes in Alcohol Consumption and Experiencing Hangovers on Academic Functioning

Journal of Clinical Medicine ◽

10.3390/jcm10225332 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 10 (22) ◽

pp. 5332

Author(s):

Agnese Merlo ◽

Pauline A. Hendriksen ◽

Johan Garssen ◽

Elisabeth Y. Bijlsma ◽

Ferdi Engels ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Academic Performance ◽

Alcohol Consumption ◽

Online Education ◽

Academic Functioning ◽

Pharmacy Students ◽

Face To Face ◽

Time Investment ◽

Improved Performance ◽

Positive Correlations ◽

The Impact

In the Netherlands, the 2019 coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic had a significant impact on daily life, with two extensive lockdowns enforced to combat the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus. These measures included the closure of bars and restaurants, and the transition from face-to-face to online education. A survey was conducted among Dutch pharmacy students and PhD-candidates to investigate the impact of COVID-19 lockdown on alcohol consumption, hangovers, and academic functioning. The analysis revealed a significant reduction in both quantity and frequency of alcohol consumption during the COVID-19 lockdown periods. This was accompanied with a significant reduction in hangover frequency and lower hangover severity during COVID-19 lockdown periods. The distribution of scores on academic performance showed great variability between respondents: while some participants reported impairment, others reported improved performance during the COVID-19 pandemic, or no change. Women reported that significantly more time investment was associated with maintaining these performance levels. Consistent among participants was the notion of reduced interactions with teachers and other students. Participants who reported more hangovers and most severe hangovers before COVID-19 benefited from the lockdown periods in terms of improved academic performance. Positive correlations were found between study grades/output and both the frequency and severity of hangovers experienced before COVID-19, suggesting that heavier drinkers, in particular, improved academic performance during the lockdown periods. In conclusion, COVID-19 lockdowns were associated with a significant reduction in both alcohol consumption and experiencing hangovers, which was, among heavier drinkers particularly, associated with significantly improved academic functioning.

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A Study on impact of smartphone addiction on academic performance

International Journal of Engineering & Technology ◽

10.14419/ijet.v7i2.6.10066 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 7 (2.6) ◽

pp. 50 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Pamela Chaudhury ◽

Hrudaya Kumar Tripathy

Keyword(s):

Academic Performance ◽

Negative Impact ◽

Pearson Correlation ◽

Machine Learning Techniques ◽

Smartphone Addiction ◽

Active Involvement ◽

Outdoor Sports ◽

Using Data ◽

The Masses ◽

The Impact

Smartphone addiction is increasingly affecting the masses and is negatively impacting the younger generation. Several researches have been done to study the impact of internet and smartphone addiction. However no work has been done to predetermine academic performance from smartphone addiction using data mining techniques. A total of 222 University students participated in the questionnaire. The survey questionnaire consisted of demographic information, internet access pattern and smartphone addiction pattern. Data was analysed using machine learning techniques using classification models. The results further encouraged us to find the correlation between smartphone addiction and academic performance. Pearson’ correlation was used to establish that smartphone usage had a negative impact on academic performance. Additionally other attributes like internet connectivity and active involvement in outdoor sports activities were investigated. Experimental results confirmed a negative correlation of these attributes with academic performance. The findings were of immense use and could be used to reduce the internet addiction amongst the student community and also enhance their academic performance

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Nature of Academic Programs, Epistemological Beliefs and Their Impact on Pakistani University Students’ Academic Performance

Review of Education, Administration & LAW ◽

10.47067/real.v4i4.197 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 4 (4) ◽

pp. 781-803

Author(s):

Rafaquat Ali ◽

Bushra Shoukat ◽

Rabia Bahoo

Keyword(s):

Academic Performance ◽

University Students ◽

Epistemological Beliefs ◽

Negative Impact ◽

English Literature ◽

Academic Programs ◽

Physical Sciences ◽

Field Of Study ◽

Significant Negative Impact ◽

The Impact

The students’ academic behaviours and academic performance differ with their epistemological beliefs. Different social-cultural and educational contexts inculcate differences in students’ epistemological beliefs. However, the impact of the nature of the academic programs on students’ epistemological beliefs is most obvious. The students of different disciplines can have different epistemological beliefs. These different epistemological beliefs differ in their impact on students’ academic performance and academic behaviour. Hence, the current study evaluated the interrelationships of various educational programs and epistemological beliefs and their importance in students’ academic performance. The volunteer university students provided data about their academic programs, epistemological beliefs, and academic performance. Researchers used the Generalized Structured Component Analysis approach to calculate the suitability of specified measurement and structural models. The impact of subjects of the soft field of study such as Behavioural Sciences, English Literature was negative on naive epistemological beliefs in knowledge structure and omniscient authority compared to subjects of the hard field of studies such as Mathematical, Physical Sciences, and Biological Sciences. The Business Sciences from the soft applied field of study had the least noticeable negative impact on naive epistemological beliefs compared to other subjects of pure soft and pure hard field of studies. Only, the belief in quick learning had a significant negative impact on students’ academic performance.

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Bank Capital, Operating Efficiency, and Corporate Performance in Nigeria

Acta Universitatis Sapientiae Economics and Business ◽

10.1515/eb-2018-0004 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 6 (1) ◽

pp. 61-87

Author(s):

Abdulai Agbaje Salami ◽

Ahmad Bukola Uthman

Keyword(s):

Negative Impact ◽

Stock Exchange ◽

Annual Reports ◽

Operating Efficiency ◽

Bank Performance ◽

Regulatory Regime ◽

Bank Capital ◽

Positive Effects ◽

Net Interest Margin ◽

The Impact

Abstract This study examines the impact of bank capital and operating efficiency on the Nigerian deposit money bank financial performance with a view to resolving risk-based and non-risk-based capitals’ dichotomy existing in the bank literature. Using bank-specific data obtained from the annual reports and accounts of 15 banks listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange between 2012 and 2015, the panel data regression analyses revealed the superiority of standard capital ratio of equity-to-total-assets, a non-risk-based capital, over other measures. While all measures, both risk-based and non-risk-based capitals, showed significantly positive effects on bank performance as measured by return-on-asset, mixed results were obtained from other indicators: return-on-equity and net-interest-margin. Overall, only equity-to-total-assets influenced all adopted performance indicators positively. It was also found that operating efficiency measured by cost-to-income ratio had negative impact on bank performance, but on the average it appeared too high. Thus, incorporating the standard capital ratio of equity-to-total assets into regulatory regime by the banks’ regulator is recommended to ensure its relevance is not overshadowed.

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The Impact of Ceta Programs on Components of Participants' Earnings

ILR Review ◽

10.1177/001979398704000309 ◽

1987 ◽

Vol 40 (3) ◽

pp. 430-441 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Katherine P. Dickinson ◽

Terry R. Johnson ◽

Richard W. West

Keyword(s):

Nearest Neighbor ◽

Negative Impact ◽

Positive Impact ◽

Hourly Wage ◽

Negative Effects ◽

Hours Worked ◽

Positive Effects ◽

Hourly Wage Rate ◽

Women's Earnings ◽

The Impact

This paper provides the first estimates of the net impact of CETA participation on the components of CETA participants' post-program earnings. Employing a sample of 1975 CETA enrollees and comparison groups drawn from the March 1978 CPS using a nearest-neighbor matching technique, the authors estimate statistically significant negative effects on men's earnings and statistically significant positive effects on women's earnings. These results stem partly from the impact of CETA participation on the likelihood of being employed after leaving the program (negative for men, positive for women), but also from a negative impact on hours worked during the year and hourly wage rate for men and a large positive impact on hours worked per week and weeks worked per year for women.

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Impact of paid work on the academic performance of nursing students

PeerJ ◽

10.7717/peerj.1838 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 4 ◽

pp. e1838 ◽

Cited By ~ 8

Author(s):

Mery Constanza García-Vargas ◽

Mercedes Rizo-Baeza ◽

Ernesto Cortés-Castell

Keyword(s):

Academic Performance ◽

Nursing Students ◽

Grade Point Average ◽

Negative Impact ◽

Paid Work ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Work Activity ◽

Grade Point ◽

Increased Risk ◽

The Impact

Background.Little research exists on the impact of paid work on academic performance of students of health sciences. No research exists on this subject for students in Colombia.Objectives.This paper seeks to analyze the impact of paid work on academic performance among nursing students. Design, settings and participants: cross-sectional research, involving 430 of nursing students from the National University of Colombia (N= 566).Methods.Variables analyzed: sex, age, work activity, attendance, current semester, degree subjects studied and unavailable, lost credits, grades during the second semester of 2013, and delayed semesters. Subgroups analyzed: (i) according to labor activity: do not work, work up to 20 h and work more than 20 h per week; (ii) Grade point average: failing is considered as less than 3.0 and passing 3.0 or above out of 5.0. Percentage of delayed semesters were calculated. Qualitative and quantitative variables were analyzed for groups by work activity. The percentage and probability of students getting a grade point average less than 3.0 and delaying semesters were calculated by multivariate logistic regression.Results. A total of 219 of the students work (50.9%), the main reason is socioeconomic, of which 99 (45.2%) work more than 20 h per week and have an increased risk of failing, which is higher in the first semester. They also get lower grades, lose more credits and take longer to finish the degree. The logistic bivariate regressions of success (grade point average, credits gained, courses gained and not having delayed semesters) reduce with work, above all in those who work more than 20 h per week and increase as the number of semesters completed increases, independent of sex.Conclusion.A high percentage of nursing students work more than 20 h per week. The compatibility of paid work with studies in university nursing students has a negative impact on academic performance, more so when they work more than 20 h per week. This negative impact diminishes as the student completes semesters, irrespective of the sex of the students.

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Racial and low-income quotas in Brazilian universities: impact on academic performance

Journal of Economic Studies ◽

10.1108/jes-10-2016-0200 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 45 (1) ◽

pp. 156-176

Author(s):

Claudia Bueno Rocha Vidigal

Keyword(s):

Academic Performance ◽

Student Performance ◽

Low Income ◽

Family Income ◽

Negative Impact ◽

Public And Private ◽

Content Type ◽

The North ◽

Significant Difference ◽

The Impact

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to estimate the impact of racial and low-income quotas on academic performance of students from public and private universities in Brazil. Design/methodology/approach Using propensity score matching applied to student-level data from the National Examination of Student Performance conducted in 2012; this paper identifies the impact of the quota policy on academic performance considering all Brazilian universities. Findings The results indicate that there is no statistically significant difference in academic performance between students admitted under the racial quota and those who had the regular admission (non-quota students). The impact is positive, however, for students from the North region of Brazil and among those with very low family income, whereas a negative impact is observed for those from the Central-West region. In regard to the low-income quota, quota students perform worse than eligible non-quota students as their scores are, on average, 14 percent lower. Similar findings are observed when different subsamples are considered. Originality/value This paper’s main contribution is to provide a broader and more rigorous empirical approach than that presented by the existing literature in order to evaluate the impact of quota policies on academic achievement. Moreover, this study considers all Brazilian institutions whereas previous studies are limited to only one or a few universities.

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Interrelationship between Sleep and Exercise: A Systematic Review

Advances in Preventive Medicine ◽

10.1155/2017/1364387 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 2017 ◽

pp. 1-14 ◽

Cited By ~ 20

Author(s):

Brett A. Dolezal ◽

Eric V. Neufeld ◽

David M. Boland ◽

Jennifer L. Martin ◽

Christopher B. Cooper

Keyword(s):

Sports Medicine ◽

Exercise Intervention ◽

Negative Impact ◽

Sleep Study ◽

Exercise Interventions ◽

Positive Effects ◽

Study Results ◽

Intensity Of Exercise ◽

The Impact ◽

The Relationship

Although a substantial body of literature has explored the relationship between sleep and exercise, comprehensive reviews and definitive conclusions about the impact of exercise interventions on sleep are lacking. Electronic databases were searched for articles published between January 2013 and March 2017. Studies were included if they possessed either objective or subjective measures of sleep and an exercise intervention that followed the guidelines recommended by the American College of Sports Medicine. Thirty-four studies met these inclusion criteria. Twenty-nine studies concluded that exercise improved sleep quality or duration; however, four found no difference and one reported a negative impact of exercise on sleep. Study results varied most significantly due to participants’ age, health status, and the mode and intensity of exercise intervention. Mixed findings were reported for children, adolescents, and young adults. Interventions conducted with middle-aged and elderly adults reported more robust results. In these cases, exercise promoted increased sleep efficiency and duration regardless of the mode and intensity of activity, especially in populations suffering from disease. Our review suggests that sleep and exercise exert substantial positive effects on one another; however, to reach a true consensus, the mechanisms behind these observations must first be elucidated.

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Teacher-Student Online Interactions During First and Second COVID-19 Related School Closures: Effects on Students’ Academic Achievement

10.31234/osf.io/2j7r6 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Markus Spitzer ◽

Korbinian Moeller ◽

Sebastian Musslick

Keyword(s):

Online Learning ◽

Academic Performance ◽

Learning Environment ◽

Online Learning Environment ◽

School Closures ◽

Positive Effects ◽

Teacher Student ◽

Mathematical Problems ◽

The Impact ◽

Second Period

A growing number of studies seek to evaluate the impact of school closures during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. While most studies reported severe learning losses in students, some studies found positive effects of school closures on academic performance. However, it is still unclear which factors contribute to the differential effects observed in these studies. In this article, we examine the impact of assignment strategies for problem sets on the academic performance of students (n 24,000 from classes 4-10 who calculated 560,000 problem sets) in an online learning environment for mathematics, during the first and second period of pandemic-related school closures in Germany. We observed that, if teachers repeatedly assigned single problem sets (i.e., a small chunk of on average eight mathematical problems) to their class, students’ performance increased significantly during both periods of school closures compared to the same periods in the previous year (without school closures). In contrast, our analyses also indicated that, if teachers assigned bundles of problem sets (i.e., large chunks) or when students self-selected problem sets, students’ performance did not increase significantly. Moreover, students’ performance was generally higher when single problem sets were assigned, compared to the other two assignment types. We conclude that teachers’ way of using the online learning environment in general, and their strategy of assigning problem sets in particular can have a positive effect on students’ performance in mathematics.

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The Impact of Sickle Cell Disease on Academic Performance among Affected Students

Children ◽

10.3390/children9010015 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 9 (1) ◽

pp. 15

Author(s):

Abdulaziz Alhazmi ◽

Khalid Hakami ◽

Faisal Abusageah ◽

Essa Jaawna ◽

Meshal Khawaji ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Academic Performance ◽

Sickle Cell Disease ◽

Online Education ◽

Sickle Cell ◽

Demographic Data ◽

Acute Chest Syndrome ◽

Lower Grade ◽

Cell Disease ◽

Grade Point ◽

The Impact

Background: Sickle cell disease (SCD) is a genetic disease that is highly prevalent in Jazan Province, Saudi Arabia, and is mostly characterized by many complications such as vaso-occlusive crises (VOC), acute chest syndrome (ACS) and well-documented neurological complications. These complications may affect patients’ academic performance. Methods: An observational, cross-sectional, retrospective study was conducted in Jazan Province. General and demographic data were collected and questions about academic performance of students with SCD were answered. Both t-tests and chi-square tests, along with multiple logistic regression, were used for analysis. Results: 982 participants were selected for this study with a mean age of 23 years (SD: 7). Most of the participants were female (64%). The number of participants with SCD was 339 (36%), of whom 42% were male. Students with SCD recorded lower grade point averages (GPA) and more absences compared to healthy participants. Further, about 60% of students with SCD thought they performed better than 40% of the participants without SCD during the COVID-19 pandemic when most of the educational activities were online. Conclusion: As has been previously reported, this study suggested that the academic performance of students with SCD is negatively affected compared to healthy individuals, and this is mostly due to complications associated with the disease. Further, students with SCD acknowledged better performance with online education, an option that should be considered to improve their academic performance. National studies on a larger population are required by health and education officials, and supportive online educational programs are warranted to enhance the academic performance of this population.

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