COVID-19’s Psychological Threats and Future Career Anxiety among University Students

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic brought different intolerable and uncomfortable situations that ruined the students' academic performance, career opportunities, and social lives through depression, anxiety, fear, uncertainty, and mental illness. In this study, we examined the psychological threats of the COVID-19 among Egypt’s public-sector university students. We employed quantitative methods in this study and used a questionnaire to collect cross-sectional data. The Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) results show that Fear of COVID-19 (FoC) has a positive effect of on Depression from COVID-19 (DfC), Future Career Anxiety (FCA) and Uncertainty of COVID-19 (UoC). In addition, DfC and UoC have positive effects on FCA. Finally, DfC and UoC positively mediate the association between FoC and FCA. This study's findings help policymakers and university authorities shape policies to reduce Egypt’s public sector university students ‘psychological problems due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Moreover, this study’s findings assist with the adjustments caused by the complex and rapidly changing pandemic situation.