Influence of digital competence on perceived stress, burnout and well-being among students studying online during the covid-19 lockdown: A 4-country perspective

Abstract

Purpose: This paper aims to reveal the influence of digital competence on perceived stress, burnout and well-being among students studying online during the COVID-19 lockdown in the spring of 2020 and to compare this influence on the basis of studies conducted in four countries. Methods: An exploratory study was conducted in Poland, Lithuania, Turkey and India using a cross-sectional research design. A total of 1097 respondents took part in the survey. Well-being was measured by the World Health Organization (WHO) Well-being Index, stress was evaluated using a psychological stress measure (PSM-9) instrument, burnout was evaluated using the Copenhagen Burnout inventory, and digital competence was measured by the Digital Competency Profiler (DCP). Results: The results revealed that social and informational dimensions of digital competencies had a positive influence on dealing with stress or burnout and improved well-being of students studying online during the COVID-19 lockdown. Moreover, the analysis on a country level highlighted that with regard to dealing with stress and burnout, the episte-mological dimension of digital competence was the most important for Lithuanians and Indians, the informational dimension for Polish students and the social dimension for Turkish students. Conclusion: The findings support the importance of digital competence on perceived stress, burnout and well-being among students studying online during the COVID-19 lockdown and propose deeper research directions on this phenomenon.