The Relationship between worry about University Reopening and Negative Behavioral Reactions in Students

The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between worry about university reopening and negative behavioral reactions in students in the current Covid-19 pandemic. The study is based on cross-sectional survey research method and the data collection tool is a researcher-made questionnaire (total Chronbach’s alpha: 0.84). . To ensure the content validity of the questionnaire, a number of psychologists and experts in the field of student counseling examined the content of the questionnaire. The study population included all students in the country, from which 1865 people were selected by convenience sampling. Survey findings show that 56% of students at different levels of education agree with the reopening of universities and 44% disagree. The results of univariate chi-square test show a significant difference between these two frequencies (X2 = 10.54, P = 0.001). Also, the results of two-variable chi-square test indicate the relationship between students' worries about their health with the reopening of universities and dealing with violators of health protocols (X2 = 60.61, P = 0.001). There was no relationship between the probability of dealing with violators of health protocols and the level of education (X2 = 5.04, P = 0.53). It is suggested that special policies be considered in order to prevent any behavioral disturbances caused by students' disagreement about the level of compliance with health protocols in the university environment.