Daily Hassles, COVID-19 Stressors, and Affect in College Students (2021)

Studies have shown that college students are particularly vulnerable to stress (D’Zurilla & Sheedy, 1991). The 2019-COVID pandemic has been an exceptionally challenging situation, with students experiencing considerable academic and personal stress (Aucejo et al., 2020). My study’s goal was to examine current stressors called “daily hassles,” which can be understood as students’ COVID-19 related fears and negative/positive emotions. I predicted that all students would experiene high levels of COVID-19 related fears and stressors, with seniors and first-generation students expected to report the highest level of stressors, even after controlling for COVID-19 fears. As the literature suggests that stress is related to higher negative affect and lower positive affect, I also tested these outcomes independently. I will discuss my results and their clinical implications in my presentation.