Fear of Covid-19, Coping With Stress and Family Protective Factors as Predictors of Mental Well-Being Levels of College Students During the Pandemic

The aim of this study is to examine Covid-19 fear, coping with stress and protective factors in the family as predictors of mental well-being levels of university students during the pandemic period. Correlational research was used as research model, as the research was intended to reveal the relationships between four different variables. The study group consisted of 539 university students, 406 of whom are women (75.3%) and 133 of whom are men (24.7%), enrolled in two different state universities in Turkey in the spring semester of 2020-2021 academic year. In the study; “Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-Being Scale”, “The Fear of Covid-19 Scale”, “Coping With Stress Scale”, “Family Protective Factors Scale” and “Personal Information Form” were used. Pearson moments product correlation analysis and multiple linear regression analysis were performed in the analysis of the data. As a result of the study, significant positive relationships were found between the levels of mental well-being of university students during the pandemic period and the levels of fear of Covid-19, as well as levels of stress coping and levels of protective factors in the family. In addition, stress-coping strategies and protective factors variables in the family together accounted for 41,6% of the total variance in mental well-being. The results of the research were discussed in the light of the literature and various suggestions were made.