ABSTRACT

Background: Stress is defined as the body's mental and physical action and reaction to any physical or psychological stimulus in order to achieve the necessary adaptation.

Aim: In this study, it was aimed to investigate the perceived stress situations of university students during the corona virus outbreak process.

Methods: The perceived stress scale filled by 489 university students was evaluated. Independent t-test, paired t-test, unidirectional variance analysis and LSD tests were used in statistical operations.

Results: Perceived stress is statistically different in both pre-epidemic and throughout the epidemic cases by gender (p <0.001). It was also found that the perceived stress was higher during the outbreak compared to the pre-outbreak situation (p <0.001). There was a statistically significant difference between the perceived stress scores of the students who said that the sleep patterns of the students did not change, I slept more or less (p <0.001). Stress level changed according to the state of doing sports (p<0.001).There was no significant difference in stress scores between watching TV and watching corona virus news on the internet (p> 0.05). There was a significant difference in perceived stress scores in social media according to the frequency of exposure (p <0.001).

Conclusion:  During the corona virus epidemic, students' perceived stress levels increased. People who do not do sports were more affected by this process. Perceived stress situations have changed according to the level of exposure to coronavirus news on social media. In order to get rid of the stress of the corona virus epidemic, it is recommended to do sports, strengthen the immune system and be less exposed to scary news on social media.