Starting from November 22nd following growing infection numbers, Austria is in lockdown again with shops closed and workers asked to return to home office if possible. For the Austrian citizens, this is the fourth lockdown within the Covid-19 pandemic and for many university students, this means returning to distance learning and online courses.
Starting from November 22nd following growing infection numbers, Austria is in lockdown again with shops closed and workers asked to return to home office if possible. For the Austrian citizens, this is the fourth lockdown within the Covid-19 pandemic and for many university students, this means returning to distance learning and online courses.
Challenging studying and living conditions
A recent survey (source: ÖH sieht soziale Lage der Studierenden durch Pandemie bedroht | ÖH - Österreichische HochschülerInnenschaft, 18.11.2021 (ots.at)) showed that in general 36% of students feel that studying conditions have worsened. Among the group of students in 4th semester and above, this number is even higher, with 51% of students. One of the biggest issues for students and professors alike is bad organization, lack of information and lack of infrastructure or knowledge how to adequately deal with distancing regulations. A staggering 75% of students feel that they are left alone by policy makers and must deal with the struggles of distance learning by themselves.
Another challenge is the availability of student jobs in the pandemic. In total, the study found that 57% are working part-time to finance their studies whilst 15% are currently looking for a job. Following the pandemic, 35% of working students faced job loss or salary decrease. Furthermore, 42% of students whose parents were negatively affected financially by the pandemic stated that they also felt negative effects.
Behaviors that affect students’ mental health positively
All of these factors combined with the insecurity and plethora of (false) information on the pandemic led to multiple effects on students. Vanessa Kulcar of the DCNA - Disaster Competence Network Austria was part of a team of scientists at the Universität Innsbruck that investigated these effects in the study “Health-related behaviors and psychological problems of students during the COVID-19 pandemic”, funded by Förderkreis 1669. The research team also asked students if and how they followed the recommendations provided by universities, by the Austrian National Union of Students, and the psychological counselling service (an initiative by the Austrian Federal Ministry of Education, Science and Research) and examined the effects on their mental health.
These suggestions include:
· Videos and infographics on taking breaks in home office
· Webinars on resilience in personal and professional life
· Physical training as well as meditation classes
· Resources on ergonomic working at home, leadership from a distance etc.
· Virtual room for relaxation
· How to create structure
· Managing your sleeping cycle
· Setting goals and reaching them for positive moments
Sources:
The results: It became evident that students who had a regular sleep pattern and a stable social network, who practiced successful interpersonal conflict management, and who were creative and active in sport, fared better than those who did not.
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