COMPARISON OF COVID-19 FEAR, PHYSICAL ACTIVITY LEVEL, MENTAL HEALTH, ACADEMIC MOTIVATION AND SLEEP QUALITY OF UNIVERSITY STUDENTS WHO RECEIVED DISTANCE AND FACE-TO-FACE EDUCATION DURING THE PANDEMIC PERIOD

Purpose: One of the areas most affected by the sudden restrictions caused by the Covid-19 pandemic was the education system and students. The aim of this study was to compare the fear of Covid-19, physical activity levels, mental health, academic motivation and sleep quality of students who received distance education and face-to-face education during the pandemic period. Methods: In our study 93 university students who received distance education (age: 20.33 +/- 1.82 years, height: 167.08 +/- 8.86 cm, weight: 61.41 +/- 12.08 kg) and 110 university students who received face-to-face education (age: 20.13 +/- 0.98 years, height: 167.62 +/- 8.12 cm, weight: 62.20 +/- 13.32 kg) were included. Fear of Covid-19 were evaluated by the Covid-19 Fear Scale, physical activity levels by International Physical Activity Questionnaire, mental healths by Depression Anxiety Stress Scale, academic motivations by Academic Motivation Scale, and sleep quality by the Pittsburg Sleep Quality Index. Results: There was no difference between the two groups in the parameters of mental health (p=0.335), academic motivation (p=0.629) and sleep quality (p=0.230). It was observed that the fears of Covid-19 (p=0.001) and physical activity levels (p=0.023) of the students who received distance education were lower than those who received face-to-face education, and the sitting times (p=0.001) were higher. Conclusion: During the Covid-19 pandemic, it was observed that there was no difference in mental health, academic motivation and sleep quality between distance education and face-to-face education. However, we think that it is important to plan for reducing the sitting times and to increase their physical activity levels of students who receive distance education.