How Do COVID-19 Anxieties Impact Undergraduates' Learning? Examining Mind-Wandering and Cognitive Emotion Regulation Instruction

• In Event: Motivation and Cognition in Learning and Instruction

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic presents a highly salient source of pressure for students. It is critical to understand whether and how COVID-19 anxiety harms learning and engagement, and if so, how we may mitigate any deleterious effects. We examined 179 undergraduates’ learning from a brief neuroscience video lesson. Students reported COVID-19 anxieties, then were randomly assigned to receive positive reappraisal (PR), cognitive reattribution (CR), or no emotion regulation instructions. Congruent with literatures on anxiety and performance, COVID-19 anxieties hindered students’ learning by increasing mind wandering during learning. Effects of PR and CR were less clear, though data suggest that only lower-anxious students improved in performance after emotion regulation instruction. Next steps include analyzing long-term effects of COVID-19 anxiety on students’ GPAs.

Authors

• Almaz Mesghina, Northwestern University

• Joseph Wong, University of California - Irvine

• Lindsey E. Richland, University of California - Irvine