Influence of Forced Online Distance Education During the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Perceived Stress of Postsecondary Students: Cross-sectional Study

One of the most significant changes in the majority of postsecondary educational institutions was the closure of those institutions and the shift of educational activities to online distance learning formats as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Closure combined with forced online distance education (FODE) was a cure with many side effects, 1 of them being the effect on students' mental health and, more specifically, levels of stress. Due to the novelty of the situation, there have been no studies so far designed to link satisfaction with online study, feelings toward the study obligations, and stress among students. The aim of the study is to assess the perceived stress of Slovenian postsecondary students in order to identify the online study-related factors affecting or acting as a covariate during the COVID-19 lockdown. Data collection was conducted through a self-reported survey as part of a large cross-sectional study based on data collected from postsecondary students from a number of higher educational institutions. The random sample consisted of 4455 individuals. The Perceived Stress Scale (PSS-4), Satisfaction with Online Study Scale (SAT-5), and Feelings Towards Study Obligations Scale (FETSOS) were used to assess the constructs and the relations observed within the study. The results indicate that more than half of all respondents reported high levels of stress. The difference in the reported levels of perceived stress between genders were statistically significant (N=4454, F =56.719, P