The relationship between perceived stress levels and communication anxiety of university students during the COVID-19 pandemic process

The aim of this study is to examine the relationship between university students' perceived stress levels and communication anxiety levels in terms of various variables during the COVID-19 pandemic, which deeply affects the whole world. Because any uncertain situation leads to anxiety-related behaviors, the COVID-19 pandemic is a process that arouses stress and communication anxiety in the masses. In this process, some groups are more vulnerable to the psychological effects of pandemics than others. For this reason, this study, which was carried out to determine the perceived stress levels and communication anxiety levels of university students who were exposed to the negative effects of the pandemic, and to determine their relationship in terms of various variables, will shed light on other future studies. The sample of the study consists of 334 university students in the 2021-2022 academic year. The study is in the quantitative research type, relational survey model. The data of the study were collected through Personal Information Form, Perceived Stress Scale and Communication Anxiety Scale. SPSS program was used in the analysis of the data. Statistical significance was accepted as p<0.05 for all analyzes. The reliability of the scales was evaluated using the Cronbach's alpha coefficient. The conformity of the scale scores calculated on the overall and sub-dimensions of the Communication Anxiety Scale and the total scores obtained from the Perceived Stress Scale to the normal distribution were examined using the Shapiro-Wilk test. Categorical variables were compared using Pearson Chi-square Test and Fisher Freeman-Halton Test. Independent Double Sample T-Test, Mann-Whitney U and Kruskal-Wallis tests were used for comparison of scale scores between groups. In case of general significance after Kruskal-Wallis test, subgroup analyzes were analyzed using Dunn-Boenferroni test. The relationship between the total scores obtained from the Communication Anxiety Scale and the Perceived Stress Scales was analyzed by correlation analysis and the Spearman correlation coefficient was calculated. According to the research findings, it was determined that there was a positive and statistically significant relationship between the scale scores obtained from the Communication Anxiety Scale and its subscales and the Perceived Stress Scale scale scores of the university students participating in the study in the context of COVID-19. In addition to the finding that the other variable will be affected in the same direction according to the increase or decrease in communication anxiety and perceived stress level, it was concluded that the participants experienced moderate communication anxiety and moderate stress. Scientific studies have reported that the COVID-19 pandemic is associated with the development of communication anxiety and an increase in stress levels in students. It is recommended by contemporary education professionals to develop an education model that promotes the development of effective communication and emphasizes the importance of mental health in terms of protection from negative consequences in students' mental health conditions or knowledge of what potential factors may be associated with risk and the use of appropriate psychological interventions.