Keywords
final exam
stress
COVID-19
high school students
How to Cite
Abstract
Introduction: For many students worldwide, school achievements and final exams results are a significant challenge and are understood as determinates of their future college and university education, as well as their professional career. The COVID-19 pandemic not only forced schools to close and a ban on gatherings, but also introduced many new solutions and measures regarding the conduct of final exams, for which students had been preparing for years. In Poland, the government shut schools in 2020, two months before the usual time for final exams. This significant factor required modification in the manner and course of the final stage of preparation for the ‘maturity’ exam, which resulted in limited contact with teachers and peers, leading to intense emotions and personal challenges. Method: The study aim was to point out the specific COVID-19 stress experience of high school students who were on the verge of graduating. 120 high school students from South Poland [40 men (33%) and 80 women (66%), aged 18-19 years], who were preparing for the final high school exam in Poland in 2020, participated in the online survey. Phenomenological content analysis of the structured open-ended questionnaire was used. Results: It was found that the subjective experiences of students were mostly negative to Covid-19 restrictions and remote learning, expressed not only as negative emotions to the new, surprising, and hence fearful situation, but also as negative attitude s towards routine changes. The strong need to develop new adaptation mechanisms necessary to cope with the isolating circumstances was also explored. Conclussions: The study provides new supplements on mental health prevention (not only during pandemic) in students who were on the verge of graduating.
References
in higher education: literature review and best practices. International Journal of Educational Technology in Higher Education, 17, 1-21.
Blakemore, S-J. (2019). Adolescence and mental health. The Lancet, 393(10185), 2030-2031. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(19)31013-X
Burton, A., McKinlay, A., Aughterson, H., & Fancourt, D. (2020). Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the mental health and wellbeing of adults with mental health conditions in the UK: A qualitative interview study. Journal of Mental Health, 29, 1-8. https://doi.org/10.1080/09638237.2021.1952953
Carrillo, C. Flores, M. (2020). COVID-19 and teacher education: a literature review of online teaching and learning practices. European Journal of Teacher Education, 43, 466-487. https://doi.org/10.1080/02619768.2020.1821184
Casey, B.J., Duhoux, S., & Cohen, M.M. (2010). Adolescence: What Do Transmission, Transition, and Translation Have to Do with It? Neuron, 67(5), 749-760. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuron.2010.08.033
Chodkowska, M., Kazanowski, Z., Parchomiuk, M., Szabała, B., & Chodkowski, Z. (2021). Konsekwencje edukacji zdalnej w ocenie maturzystów roku 2021. Raport z badań, UMCS: Lublin, Poland, URz: Rzeszów, Poland.
Comer, J.S., Roy, A.K., Furr, J.M., Gotimer, K., Beidas, R.S., Dugas, M.J., & Kendall, P.C. (2009). The Intolerance of Uncertainty Scale for Children: A psychometric evaluation. Psychological Assessment, 21, 402-411.
Decarli, G., Surian, L., Vignoli, M., & Franchin, L. (2022). What teachers tell us about the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on public education in Italy. European Journal on Education Research, 11(2),1103-1114. https://doi.org/10.12973/eu-jer.11.2.1103
Długosz, P. (2020). Krakowscy licealiści w drodze do dorosłości. Kraków: Oficyna Wydawnicza ,,Impuls”.
Długosz, P., & Kryvachuk, L. (2021). Neurotic generation of COVID-19 in Eastern Europe. Frontiers in Psychiatry, 14, 1147. https://doi.org/10.31234/osf.io/mwhzk
Doliński, D. (1993), Orientacja defensywna. Warszawa: Wydawnictwo Instytutu Psychologii PAN.
Dugas, M.J., Laugesen, N., & Bukowski, W.M. (2012). Intolerance of uncertainty, fear of anxiety, and adolescent worry. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 40, 863-870.
Fancourt, D., Steptoe, A., & Bu, F. (2021). Trajectories of anxiety and depressive symptoms during enforced isolation due to COVID-19 in England: A longitudinal observational study. Lancet Psychiatry, 8, 141-149.
Getzmann, S., Digutsch, J., & Kleinsorge, T. (2021). COVID-19 Pandemic and Personality: Agreeable People Are More Stressed by the Feeling of Missing. International Journal of Environmental Research on Public Health, 18(20), 10759. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph182010759
Haig-Ferguson, A., Cooper, K., Cartwright, E., Loades, ME., & Daniels, J. (2021). Practitioner review: health anxiety in children and young people in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. Behavioral and Cognitive Psychotherapy, 49(2), 129-143. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1352465820000636
Kiral Ucar, G., Donat, M., Bartholomaeus, J., Thomas, K., & Nartova-Bochaver, S. (2022). Belief in a just world, perceived control, perceived risk, and hopelessness during the COVID-19 pandemic: Findings from a globally diverse sample. Current Psychology, 41, 8400-8409. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-022-03172-1
Kumar, S.A., Edwards, M.E., Grandgenett, H.M., Scherer, L.L., DiLillo, D., & Jaffe, A.E. (2022). Does Gratitude Promote Resilience During a Pandemic? An Examination of Mental Health and Positivity at the Onset of COVID-19. Journal of Happiness Studies, 23,(7), 3463-3483. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10902-022-00554-x
Lerner, M.J. (1980). The Belief in a Just World. (In:) The Belief in a Just World. Perspectives in Social Psychology. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4899-0448-5_2
Liu, J.J., Bao, Y., Huang, X., Shi, J., & Lu, L. (2020). Mental health considerations for children quarantined because of COVID-19. The Lancet Child & Adolescent Health, 4, 347-349.
Mariss, A., Reinhardt, N., & Schindler, S. (2022). The Role of Just World Beliefs in Responding to the COVID-19 Pandemic. Social Justice Research, 35, 188-205. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11211-022-00388-1
Mpungose, C.B. (2020). Emergent transition from face-to-face to online learning in a South African University in the context of the Coronavirus pandemic. Humanitise and Social Science Communnications, 7, 113., https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-020-00603-x
Münscher, S. (2022). The relationship between just world belief and wellbeing, cheating behaviors, and academic work behaviors during COVID 19 among university students. Science Reports, 12, 14328. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-18045-7
Ni, M.Y., Yao, X.I., Leung, K.S. M., Yau, C., Leung, C.M. C., Lun, P., Flores, F.P., Chang, W.C., Cowling, B.J., & Leung, G.M. (2020). Depression and post-traumatic stress during major social unrest in Hong Kong: A 10-year prospective cohort study. The Lancet, 395, (10220), 273-284. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(19)33160-5
O’Connor, R.C., Wetherall, K., Cleare, S., McClelland, H., Melson, A.J., Niedzwiedz, C.L., O’Carroll, R.E., O’Connor, D.B., Platt, S., Scowcroft, E., Watson, B., Zortea, T., Ferguson, E., & Robb, K.A. (2021). Mental health and well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic: Longitudinal analyses of adults in the UK COVID-19 Mental Health & Wellbeing study. British Journal of Psychiatry, 218, 326-333.
Racine, N., McArthur, BA., Cooke, JE., Eirich, R., Zhu, J., & Madigan, S. (2021). Global Prevalence of Depressive and Anxiety Symptoms in Children and Adolescents During COVID-19. JAMA Pediatrics, 175(11), 1142. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamapediatrics.2021.2482
Siryk, I., Kulish, O., & Orlova, N. (2022). The impact of the covid-19 pandemic and quarantine on an adolescent’s personality. Zeszyty Naukowe Wyższej Szkoły Technicznej w Katowicach, 14. https://doi.org/10.54264/0038
Smith, J., Flowers, P., & Larkin, M. (2009). Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis: Theory, Method and Research, London: Sage.
Song, M., Zeiser, K., Atchison, D., & Brodziak de los Reyes, I. (2021). Early college, continued success: Longer-term impact of early college high schools. Journal of Research on Educational Effectiveness, 14(1), 116-142.
Szwarc, K. (2020), Koronawirus a Matura. Raport z Badania Ankietowego. Poznań: Instytut Wiedzy o Rodzinie i Społeczeństwie.
Wang, C., Pan, R., Wan, X., Tan, Y., Xu, L., Ho, C.S., & Ho, R.C. (2020). Immediate psychological responses and associated factors during the initial stage of the 2019 coronavirus disease (COVID-19) epidemic among the general population in China. International Journal of Environmental Research on Public Health, 17, 1729.
Williams, S.N., Armitage, C.J., Tampe, T., & Dienes, K. (2021). Public attitudes towards COVID-19 contact tracing apps: A UK-based focus group study. Health Expectations, 24, 377–385. https://doi.org/10.1111/hex.13179