Abstract:

COVID-19 pandemic and the switch from in-presence to online lectures has affected university students’ mental health and learning. Little is known about individual features related to both these dimensions. The present study investigated the effect of several personal dispositions study-related (motivation to learn, self-regulated learning, and study resilience) and general (soft skills, intolerance of uncertainty) on three situational outcomes (online self-regulated learning, study-related emotions and general distress) during the first Italian nationwide lockdown (March-May 2020). A total 331 university students (91 males) aged 19-34 (M = 22.48, SD = 2.33) completed an online survey assessing both dispositional and situational variables. Results evidenced slightly higher anxiety, depression and stress levels compared to normative population. Confirmatory factor analyses supported two aggregated factors, namely soft skills (i.e. creativity, critical thinking, curiosity, emotional intelligence and perseverance) and study-related aspects (i.e. academic self-efficacy, growth mindset, learning goals, in-presence self-regulated learning strategies, and study resilience). The final regression models evidenced that study-related aspects and soft skills had a positive effect on online self-regulated learning and study-related emotions, and a negative effect on general distress. Intolerance of uncertainty showed a positive effect on general distress and a negative effect on study-related emotions. Results’ implications are discussed within educational domain and pandemic literature available.

Keywords:

University students, self-regulated learning, emotions, distress, soft-skills, lockdown.