COVID-19 anxiety and uncertainty of classes: Devastating effect on students’ academic behavior and performance

COVID-19 and the education sector

The curse of COVID-19 not only affects the health and economy of the country but also extended its venom to the education sector (Li, 2020; Tinsley, 2020). The sudden closure of schools and colleges for uncertain periods made the education sector perturbed and unprepared for digital classes, adding more pain to the situation (Suwidiyanti and Anshori, 2021; Tan, 2021). After completing the first wave of COVID-19, the schools and colleges reopened as per the Government regulation, but this phase ‘Back to Basic,’ would not remain for an extended period (Sarah et al., 2021). When the second wave of COVID-19 hit India, the schools and colleges were prepared for digital classes, but no measures were taken to uplift the spirit of students (Li, 2020).

COVID-19 anxiety among students

According to WHO report, people of age group less than 25 are less prone to COVID-19 compared to other age groups (Due to high immunity system) but it is not ignoring fact that even young students disturbed mentally (Faize and Husain, 2020). As students are aware of the viciousness of COVID-19, it created anxiety and other psychological problems (Pragholapati, 2020). ‘Reading too much about COVID-19’, ‘false information’, ‘lockdown rules’, ‘financial problems’ and ‘food unavailability’ caused to increase the anxiety among students (Sarah et al., 2021). In addition to this, ‘exam postponement’ and ‘online exams and viva’ created more academic stress among students (Faize and Husain, 2020; Günther, 2021). Balhara et al. (2020) found a significant positive relationship between COVID-19 anxiety and academic stress, and Cheng and Lam (2021) found that ‘usage of social media’ negatively impacts ‘level of anxiety’. The students who were more worried about the COVID-19 situation are facing ‘academic procrastination behavior,’ and they lost interest in academic life (N. Ammar et al., 2020). Dangal and Bajracharya (2020) found out rural, low-income female students are more affected by mental issues due to COVID-19. Huckins et al. (2020) identified that students of a higher level of classes felt a higher level of anxiety compared to lower-level classes, and a survey by Van Wyk (2020) found that anxiety among students steadily increased. Saddik et al. (2020) stated that ‘COVID-19 anxiety’ increases ‘intolerance of uncertainty’ among students and worsens internalizing symptoms among teens. Kulal and Nayak (2020) reported that an increase in the level of COVID-19 anxiety causes a decrease in the number of students attending online classes in Karnataka, and students who cited they were finding difficulty adopting virtual learning experience a high level of anxiety (Tan, 2021). Few studies proved that COVID-19 anxiety has a negative influence on the academic performance of the students (Madero Gómez et al., 2020).

Further, Brouwer et al. (2021) pointed out the relationship between anxiety and depression among students, and it causes a higher rate of suicidal thoughts (Bergmans and Larson, 2021). Despite teachers’ best efforts, most of the students experience a high level of anxiety due to class uncertainty, inability to adopt virtual classes, and lack of infrastructure facilities to take an online class (Tan, 2021). Dangal and Bajracharya (2020) pointed that ‘financial problems during the lockdown’, ‘academic delay’ and ‘impact on daily life’ are the significant factors influencing the increase of COVID-19 anxiety among students. Baloran (2020) proved that students who have a high level of awareness about coping strategies experienced a low level of anxiety, and students of introverted character felt less stress in lockdown than extroverted students.

Academic behavior

Academic behavior refers to the manner, posture, or ethical behavior that an individual encompasses in their academic life (Faize and Husain, 2020). The measurement of academic behavior is a complex task, and it involves many layers. The study considered the significant aspects of academic behavior such as ‘academic integrity,’ ‘learning habits’, ‘growth mindset’ and ‘academic satisfaction.’ The previous literature (Ferrinho, 2020; Lashley et al., 2020; Saddik et al., 2020 etc) defined these components and found a relationship with academic performance.

Academic integrity

Academic integrity is the obligation to and demonstration of honest and ethical behavior in academic life. It is an important character to ensure that students acquire knowledge and skills honestly in the schools and colleges, and it helps them in work-life (‘Arbor Day Academic Integrity Survey Report’, 2014). However, the COVID-19 pandemic disturbed the academic integrity among students, especially during online exams, submission of assignments, and attending online classes (Jamalpur et al., 2021). Many kinds of literature proved that the cheating cases in online exams increased in the last year, and teachers reported that the cases of fake attendance increased in online classes (Kecojevic et al., 2020). ‘Students are not regular for classes’, ‘late joining and leaving the class in between classes’, and ‘disturbing the classes’ are some of the difficulties teachers face in online classes (Zhang, Zhou and Xia, 2020). Students opined that the COVID-19 situation made them lazy and affected their academic integrity (Astatke, Weng, and Chen, 2021). During the lockdown, the only hope for conducting exams was through online invigilating, but this hope was dispersed due to copying by students. Sheen et al. (2020) believe that online viva voce is the best option to assess the academic performance of students because there is less of a chance of cheating. The COVID-19 pandemic brought some changes in academic settings such as, a ‘huge difference in scores between online and classroom exams’ (Chaves et al., 2021; Eshet, Steinberger and Grinautsky, 2021), an ‘increase in academic outsourcing and academic file sharing’ (Charissi, Tympa, and Karavida, 2020), an ‘increase in academic misconduct’ (Papadimos et al., 2020) and ‘sharing exam questions and answers’ (Gallo et al., 2020). According to Kulal and Nayak (2020), a shift in mode of learning to online due to an emergency created stress among students which lead to cheating behavior among students in online class. According to Günther (2021), students are not held solely responsible for the downtrend in academic integrity, other parties like management, teachers and government also carry the same responsibility, but teachers have a major role in the upliftment of academic integrity.

Learning habits

Learning habit is one of the main components of academic behavior, and many types of research proved its influence on academic performance (Tran et al., 2020). Learning habits include study attitudes and study habits, and this study analyzed how these behaviors changed in the last year due to COVID-19. It found that the COVID-19 situation ‘increased the learning gap’, ‘decreased study hours’ and ‘decreased note-taking habits’ (Lawrence et al., 2021). The online classes reduced student-teacher’s one-to-one interaction, and it made it a difficult situation to create a proper learning space (Balhara et al., 2020). The previous study found a positive relationship between COVID-19 anxiety and a decrease in study hours, which directly affects academic achievement. The study conducted by Jamalpur et al. (2021) found that there is a massive reduction in learning gain post-pandemic, and they estimated that if this situation continues for one more year, it is difficult to recover (Zhang, Taub and Chen, 2021). Zhang, Zhou and Xia (2020) pointed out that students from low-income families faced high problems in catching online classes due to the inability to purchase a computer and Wi-Fi. The majority of the students cited that listening hours in online classes were reduced, and they spent more time on social networking sites during online classes (Riva, Wiederhold and Mantovani, 2021).

Growth mindset

The urge for excellence or motivation to achieve more is crucial for academic behavior, and it helps them focus on the goal. Schools and colleges have a major role in keeping such interest among students (Yeo et al., 2021). It is easy to communicate with students about their goals and guide them in classroom teaching, but due to COVID-19, classes are shifted to online. It is very difficult to understand the mental situation and academic stress that students are facing in online mode (Ho et al., 2020; Sarah et al., 2021). Most of the teachers are focusing on completing their syllabus in online class rather than focusing on other aspects of education such as ‘mental ability’, ‘reasoning skills’ and ‘communication skills’ (Sarrot, 2020). Many students cited that lockdown helped them to find a new passion, and many believed that the COVID-19 situation wasted their academic year. Snipes and Tran (2017) found that an increase in growth mindset helps to reduce academic stress which leads to academic achievement.

Furthermore, a growth mindset helps academic well-being and gives the confidence to cope with COVID-19 situations. Besides, it reduces depression and anxiety. Many studies found a direct impact of a growth mindset on academic achievement (Hanisa, 2020; Bowyer, 2021; Fatimah, Rajiani and Abbas, 2021).

Academic satisfaction

Academic satisfaction means the students’ satisfaction on various components of the academic setting such as class, teacher, exam, etc. (Aristovnik et al., 2020). Academic satisfaction helps students keep a positive mindset in any situation, and it also helps academic performance (Kumar, Nayar and Bhat, 2020; Li, 2020; Peinado-Guevara et al., 2021). The study analysed the students’ satisfaction towards the academic setting during a COVID-19 pandemic. Students opined that they missed classroom chit-chat due to class suspension and felt bored in an online class. Students were not able to concentrate on academic life, which causes a decrease in academic satisfaction which leads to lower academic performance (Cipriano et al., 2020; Akcil and Bastas, 2021).

Academic performance

There is a mixed opinion on the measurement of the academic performance of students. Some literature measured based on their exam score (grade point average or percentage) (Aristovnik et al., 2020; Cipriano et al., 2020; Faize and Husain, 2020; Sarah et al., 2021), and some literature considered other aspects such as extracurricular activities along with exam scores (Sarrot, 2020; Trammell, Ph.D. et al., 2021). Due to COVID-19, most of the extracurricular activities were suspended, and exams were cancelled in some universities. Therefore, this study asked the students to rate their academic performance in the last year and measured the influence of the COVID-19 situation on academic achievement mediating academic behavior. Previous literature proved that a huge time gap due to ‘summer vacation,’ ‘absenteeism’ and weather-related closure of college (heavy rain or flood) negatively impacted academic performance and the existing situation is worse than all the previous events (Aristovnik et al., 2020; Sheen et al., 2020). The study conducted by Gallo et al. (2020) identified the variability in learning loss by subject, and they found that practical subjects were impacted more than theory subjects. The COVID-19 situation not only affected the academic activities but also affected the outdoor activities, and thereby, it hurts the overall development of the students (A. Ammar et al., 2020). Besides, it downsized the reading ability of students, and Sheen et al. (2020) estimated, it requires 7–12 weeks to catch up with their subjects. Chhatre et al. (2020) conducted a survey that reported that the academic achievement gap has a longer-term impact than we expect and causes higher dropout rates in rural areas. The study also cited that if the Government of India does not take any proper measures, this will cause an increase in ‘income disparity,’ ‘low economic growth’, ‘higher unemployment’ and ‘higher crime rate.’

Uncertainty of classes

The COVID-19 situation disrupted regular classes, and it brought uneasiness among students, teachers, and management. The disturbance in regular classes and postponement of exams increased academic stress, and some students lost interest in academic life (Dewi and Wibowo, 2020; Yeo et al., 2021). Students who were studying abroad suffered a lot due to the uncertainty of classes, and some were facing visa problems due to delay in the academic year (Suwidiyanti and Anshori, 2021). Since classes moved to online classes, students who joined hostels were simply paying rent even though they were not staying (Li, 2020). Amidst all this drama, some private schools and colleges started online admission for the next academic year, which the majority of the students found difficult both emotionally and financially (Arora, Chakraborty and Bhatia, 2021). Due to COVID-19, the uncertainty of classes became inevitable, and it shattered students emotionally and academically.

Research design

The present study is descriptive and explains the causal relationship between the study variables. The study was carried out from 27th August 2021 to 10^th March 2022 in the Coastal Karnataka region of Karnataka. The present study is descriptive and explains the causal relationship between the study variable. The study was carried out in the Coastal Karnataka region of Karnataka. The study area comes under Mangalore University’s jurisdiction and consists of 194 colleges providing undergraduate and postgraduate courses. In the study area, approximately 35,000 students are pursuing their graduate and postgraduate degrees.

Instrument and variable measurement

A questionnaire was constructed with two independent variables (COVID-19 anxiety and uncertainty of class), one mediating variable (academic behavior), and one dependent variable (academic performance). COVID-19 anxiety was measured with six statements directly adapted from Baloran (2020). Statements like “Do you have frequent thoughts of being infected during this Pandemic?” and “Have you been anxious or having insomnia during this quarantine?” were asked to the students, and they had to give a response on a five-point Likert scale ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) – 5 (strongly agree). Then the total score was obtained by finding the sum of items ranging between 1 to 5, with higher scores indicating higher anxiety. Uncertainty of classes was measured with a newly conceptualized five items, such as “Suspension of Classes and Postponement of exam adversely affect my learning Interest” and “Irregular classes made me unfocused in the academic field”. It measured students’ feelings about the uncertainty of classes through five items on a five-point Likert scale ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) – 5 (strongly agree). The total score obtained ranged from 1 to 5, with a higher score indicating a higher problem faced due to class uncertainty. The academic behavior of students was measured with four factors as academic integrity, learning habits, growth mindset, and academic satisfaction. Academic integrity was measured with four statements like “Some of my classmates were Copying from another student or source during an online test”. Learning habits were measured with five statements like “My study hours decreased in the last one year”. Growth mindset was measured with four statements like “I got more choices of learning during the lockdown”. Academic satisfaction was measured with six statements like “I am satisfied with classes taken during the lockdown period”. The respondents gave their opinion on a five-point Likert scale ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) – 5 (strongly agree). Academic performance was measured with one direct question, and here the researcher asked the respondents how they rate their academic performance on a five-point rating scale ranging from 5 (excellent) – 1 (extremely poor).

Reliability and validity

In the first stage, the items generated by undertaking an organized literature review and construct were recognized. In the second stage, these were discussed with experts and academics for the content validity of the questionnaire. In the third stage, pre-testing was conducted by taking 15 students at Mangalore University Campus to know the level of understandability of the questionnaire among students. At stage four, the reliability test was conducted to know the internal consistency of the item scale using Cronbach alpha and the results are depicted in Table 1.

Table 1 explains the result of reliability analysis for scale data, and it exhibits that COVID-19 anxiety (I=.703), uncertainty of class (I=.758), academic integrity (I=.845), learning habit (I=.676), growth mindset (I=.689), and academic satisfaction (I=.787) were found reliable (I>0.6).

Participants and selection criteria

Students pursuing postgraduate and undergraduate courses from the Mangalore university jurisdiction were considered as participants. The researcher visited administration office of Mangalore University and approached Registrar (Evaluation) to get details of the students. With help of given details and from each college’s website, the researcher was able to develop sampling frame. Later a simple random sampling technique (Lottery Method) was used to select sampling unit. Taro (1967) sample size formula used to determine sample size for our study. A total of 480 students of regular course (Minimum of 2 years course) were invited to fill out the questionnaire from 10^th November 2021 to 18^th February 2022.

Data collection setting

Data was collected using a structured questionnaire. The researcher distributed the questionnaire through email, WhatsApp, and telegram app of students (personal interview was not possible due to COVID-19 protocols). We collected contact details for further clarification and follow-up. Data was collected from April 10, 2022 to July 25, 2022. Collected data were entered into SPSS 20 and missing data was removed. Later, data were coded and used for analysis. Some repetitive questions were used to identify the bias responses from the students and such responses were removed from the final data. Data analysis and interpretation was undertaken from 2^nd August 2022 to 10^th September 2022.

Ethical considerations

The adopted questionnaire was submitted to the academic integrity and ethical committee of Kingdom University and got approved as per the research policy and procedure of the university council 20^th November, 2022. We were not able to collect prospective ethical approval due to lockdown in the institution. Therefore, for this study we obtained retrospective ethical approval from Academic Integrity and Ethics Committee, College of Business Administration, Kingdom University, Bahrain on 20^th November 2022 (CBA/17/22). The researcher asked for the oral permission from students before distributing questionnaire and informed them the purpose of the research. The respondents gave their full consent without force from anyone. Subsequently, in order to protect the rights and privacy of the respondents, all forms of private data (Name and contact details) were acquired will remain confidential.

Data analysis and interpretation

SPSS version 20 was used for data entry and analysis. After entering data into SPSS, data screening and data transformation were made for accurate analysis. One Sample t-test and multiple regression (SEM) were used for the purpose of inferential analysis. The result of the analysis is discussed below.

Demographic profile

Demographic details of the respondents help to understand the diversity of students in respect of their gender, age, the field of study, and level of study. The researcher took utter care to ensure that each group had equal proportions in numbers. The demographic details of the respondents are depicted in Table 2.

Table 2 demonstrates that the majority of the respondents were female (69.4%), and 65.20% of the respondents were aged between 18–22. Most of the respondents (37.5%) were to pursuing their degree/diploma course, and 60.21% of the respondents were studying commerce and management. The analysis of the demographic details shows that female students are more interested in the enrolment of higher education. The study revealed that the commerce and management courses have the highest Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) than science and arts courses.

COVID-19 anxiety among students

The COVID-19 situation altered every aspect of human life, especially mental health. Students felt fear and depressed in this pandemic situation which adversely affected their academic life (Meo et al., 2020). At this juncture, the researcher was interested to know the level of COVID-19 anxiety among students. The total responses were converted into the score and grouped into four levels. If the mean value was less than 2, then it was treated as ‘extremely low level of anxiety’, if the mean value was between 2.1 to 3, then it was treated as ‘low level of anxiety’, if the mean value was between 3.1 to 4, then it was treated as ‘high level of anxiety’, if mean value was more than 4, then it was treated as ‘extremely high level of anxiety.’ The analysis of the COVID-19 anxiety among students is depicted in Table 3.

Table 3 explains that students had a high level of anxiety about being infected (mean (M)=3.38), and they agreed that they felt depressed (M=3.48) during the lockdown. Students agreed that they spent more time on reading or watching COVID-19 information (M=3.56), and they also agreed that they were feeling anxiety and insomnia during the lockdown period (M=3.08). The majority of the students strongly agreed that they get too conscious in social gatherings (M=4.21); the overall mean and standard deviation are 3.6167±.64333, which indicates that the students had a high level of COVID-19 anxiety. The result of the one sample t-test exhibits that the opinions given by respondents are significantly different from the mean value; since the p-value is less than 0.05, we can conclude that the results are statistically significant.

Students’ perception on uncertainty of class

Suspension of schools and colleges is the only option to prevent COVID-19 from spreading among students on campus, but this decision has made significant changes in the students’ academic behavior (Nguyen et al., 2020; Tran et al., 2020). To know how the uncertainty of classes affected the perception of students on their academic life, the researcher collected opinions of students and the results are portrayed in Table 4.

Table 4 indicates that students are strongly agreed that frequent closure of schools and colleges affected the academic behaviour of students (M=4.39) and suspension of classes and postponement of exams adversely affected their learning interest (M=4.39). The majority of the students strongly agreed that irregular classes made them unfocused in the academic field (M=4.33), and they also agreed that they are comfortable with online classes (M=3.98). The overall mean and standard deviation are 4.2458±.68438, which indicates that students have a negative perception (since all statements are negative) about the uncertainty of class and its influence on their academic life. The result of a one sample t-test indicates a p-value less than.05; therefore, it can be concluded that the results are statistically significant.

Academic integrity of the students during the COVID-19 pandemic

Academic integrity helps the students develop responsible behavior and honesty in their work (Aucejo et al., 2020). To know whether difficulties and challenges during the COVID-19 situation altered the academic integrity of the students, the researcher analyzed academic integrity and the results are shown in Table 5.

Table 5 indicates that students agreed that their classmates were copying from another student or source during an online test (M=3.41) and that they join the online class but do not listen to the class (M=3.95). Most of the students strongly agreed that the COVID-19 situation made students lazy, Dishonest, and irresponsible (M=4.09), and that they copy online sources to write an assignment without giving citations to the original author (M=3.86). The overall mean and standard deviation are 3.8297±.88585, which indicates that students agree that the COVID-19 situation negatively influenced their academic integrity and results from a one sample t-test supported (p<0.05) the significance of the result.

Students’ learning habits during the COVID-19 pandemic

Undoubtedly, the COVID-19 pandemic situation would create unequal learning opportunities depending upon access to technology and family support; this would completely change the learning habit of students (Rahman et al., 2020). With this intention, the researcher gathered information about how students’ learning habits were affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and the analysis is depicted in Table 6.

Table 6 exhibits that students agreed that they clearly remember their subject’s contents after lockdown (M=3.37) and can appropriately concentrate on their studies (M=3.38). The majority of the students agreed that their study hours are decreased in the last year (M=3.97), and they were not able to write proper notes from online classes (M=3.81). The overall mean and standard deviation are 3.7396±.59568, which indicates that students agreed that the COVID-19 situation altered their learning habits, and the one-sample t-test proved the significance (p<0.05) of the result.

Students’ growth mindset during COVID-19 pandemic

A growth mindset is essential to keep the students motivated towards learning, and it makes them keep hope in their careers (Molock and Parchem, 2020). With this intention, the researcher analyzed whether the COVID-19 situation influenced students’ growth mindset, and the results are shown in Table 7.

Table 7 indicates that students agreed that the COVID-19 pandemic does not alter their academic goal (M=3.45); instead, it gave them more time to concentrate on their passion (M=3.42). Most of the students agreed that the lockdown period gave them more learning choices (M=3.54) and got a break from academic stress (M=3.64). The overall mean and standard deviation are 3.5135±.79866, which indicates that students have a highly positive (since all statements are positive) mindset about academic life, and the result of the one sample t-test proved the significance of the result.

Students’ academic satisfaction during the COVID-19 pandemic

Students’ academic achievement cannot be measured merely with the yardstick of grade points or marks, and it is important to consider students’ academic satisfaction to complete the process (Aristovnik et al., 2020). Therefore, the researcher asked the students to state their level of satisfaction in various aspects of academic settings such as teachers, management, family, etc. The analysis of students’ academic satisfaction during the COVID-19 pandemic is depicted in Table 8.

Table 8 indicates that students are satisfied with classes taken during the lockdown period (M=3.08), teachers’ support during lockdown (M=3.65), and infrastructure facilities they had to attend online classes (M=3.15). Most of the students agreed that they are satisfied with measures taken by schools and colleges to uplift the academic career of the students during pandemic situations (M=3.48). Most of the students strongly agreed that they are satisfied with family support in their pursuance (M=4.01) and agreed that students are satisfied with academic performance (M=3.37). To find out the level of satisfaction, the researcher calculated the mean score ranging from 1 to 5. If the mean value was less than 2, then it was treated as very low satisfaction; if the mean value was between 2.1 to 3, then it was treated as low satisfaction; if the mean value was between 3.1 to 4, then it was treated as high satisfaction; if mean value was above 4, then it was treated as very high level of satisfaction. The overall mean and standard deviation are 3.4583±0.77391, which indicates that students had a high level of academic satisfaction in the last academic year.

Academic performance of students during the COVID-19 pandemic

As earlier cited, the measurement of academic performance is a real challenge. The traditional school of thought purely measures based on their marks or grade obtained in written exams. However, modern schools of thought also add other academic aspects such as extracurricular activities to measure academic performance (Rodriguez et al., 2020; Suwidiyanti and Anshori, 2021). Moreover, in the last year, universities cancelled most of the extracurricular activities and cancelled exams for some students. So, it is not easy to consider both schools of thought as a yardstick to measure academic performance. Therefore, in this study the researcher directly asked the students to rate their academic performance in the last academic year, and the result is depicted in Table 9.

Table 9 indicates that the majority of the students (51.5%) have an average level of academic performance and 24.4% of the students have an above average level of academic performance. The study revealed that 11.9% of the students are below the average level of academic performance, and only 7.5% of them perform excellently in their academics. The overall mean and standard deviation are 3.18±.908, which indicates that students are at the above-average level of academic performance.

Hypothesis testing

To find out the causal relationship between the study variable, a hypothesized conceptual model was developed and represents three hypotheses. To test each hypothesis, proper statistical tools were used, and the result of each hypothesis are tabulated in Table 10.

The analysis of the first hypothesis (H₁) showed that COVID-19 anxiety significantly described the variability in academic behaviour (AB) of the students (R²=0.155, p<0.05), indicating that high COVID-19 anxiety negatively impacted on academic behaviour. Hence, H₁ explaining the relation between COVID-19 anxiety and academic behaviour was accepted (R=-0.394), as COVID-19 anxiety (β=-0.07, p<0.05) significantly and negatively impacted the academic behavior of the students. The analysis of the second hypothesis (H₂) exhibits that the uncertainty of class significantly contributes to the variation of academic behaviour of the students (R²=0.087, p<0.05), indicating that a high level of uncertainty of classes negatively affects the academic behaviour. Hence, H₂ signifying the relation between the uncertainty of classes and academic behaviour of the students was accepted (R=-0.296), as uncertainty of classes (β = -0.23, p<0.05) significantly and negatively impacted the academic behavior of the students. Likewise, the test result of the third hypothesis (H₃) showed a positive correlation between the academic behaviour and academic performance of the students (R=0.328, p<0.05), which explains that students with a high level of academic behaviour achieved high academic performance. Hence, H₃ implicating the relation between academic behaviour and academic performance was accepted, as academic behaviour (β=0.37, p<0.05) significantly influenced the students’ academic performance. The result of a causal relationship between study variables is explained with the help of a path analysis and is depicted in Figure 2.

Figure 2. Path analysis of the model.

Source: Data Analysis. AI - Academic Integrity; LH - Learning Habit; GM - Growth Mindset; AS - Academic Satisfaction.

Figure 2 indicates that a 1% increase in COVID-19 anxiety decreases academic behavior by 0.07%, which means that increases in COVID-19 anxiety reduce the academic integrity, learning habits, growth mindset, and academic satisfaction of the students. Likewise, a 1% increase in uncertainty of class decreases 0.23% of academic behavior, which means frequent closure of schools and colleges adversely affects the students’ academic behavior. Later, the researcher evaluated the impact of COVID-19 anxiety and uncertainty of class on academic performance. Here the researcher identified both the direct effect (COVID-19 anxiety and uncertainty of class on academic performance) and the indirect effect (through academic behaviour). The standardized total (direct and indirect) effect of COVID-19 anxiety on academic performance is -.026. Due to both direct (unmediated) and indirect (mediated) effects of COVID-19 anxiety on academic performance, when COVID-19 anxiety goes up by one standard deviation, academic performance goes down by 0.026 standard deviations. The direct (unmediated) effect of COVID-19 anxiety on academic performance is.000, which means that COVID-19 anxiety does not have a significant direct impact on academic performance. The standardized indirect (mediated) effect of COVID-19 anxiety on academic performance is -.026.

Similarly, the standardized total (direct and indirect) effect of the uncertainty of class on academic performance is -.085. Due to both direct (unmediated) and indirect (mediated) effects of the uncertainty of class on academic performance, when the uncertainty of class goes up by one standard deviation, academic performance goes down by 0.085 standard deviations. The direct (unmediated) effect of the uncertainty of class on academic performance is .000, which means that the uncertainty of class does not directly impact academic performance. The indirect (mediated) effect of the uncertainty of class on academic performance is -.112. Due to the indirect (mediated) effect of the uncertainty of class on academic performance, when the uncertainty of class goes up by 1, academic performance goes down by 0.112. The relationship between academic behaviour and academic performance (H₃) indicates that when academic behaviour increases by one standard deviation, academic performance increases by 0.37, which explains that an increase in academic integrity, learning habits, growth mindset, and academic satisfaction helps to increase the academic performance of the students. The model fit indices such as goodness of fit index (.98), adjusted goodness fit index (0.92), root mean square error approximation (0.040), chi-squared fit statistics/degree of freedom (1.803), and comparative fit index (0.92) supported the present model.