Evaluation of Knowledge about COVID-19 and Its Effect on Psychological States of University Students

Abstract

COVID-19 spread all over the world in a short time since the beginning of 2020, became a pandemic, caused serious interruptions and changes in peoples’ daily life. University students were among the masses that experienced the most change in their lives. For this reason, in this study, it was aimed to assess the knowledge and psychological status of university students about COVID-19. This cross-sectional study was planned and data was collected by reaching the students with an online questionnaire. Within the scope of the study, data of 720 participants were analyzed. As a result of the study, it was determined that the level of knowledge of the participants about COVID-19 was high and the majority of the participants had a normal level of depression, anxiety and stress. This situation may be due to the participants’ high level of knowledge about the disease, low-risk perception, and living with parents. It has been determined that the sources from which students get information are effective on their knowledge levels and their knowledge levels on their DASS levels. The importance of directing students to the right sources to get information has been demonstrated.