Benefit Finding and Academic Engagement Among College Students in China: Anxiety as a Moderator

Abstract

This research aimed to investigate college students' academic engagement during the outbreak of COVID-19 in some areas in China, thus verifying how benefit finding (BF) influences academic engagement with anxiety as moderating effect. We conducted a questionnaire composed of the recompiled Benefit Finding Scale, Student Version of the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale, and 7-item Generalized Anxiety Disorder Scale. In the outbreak stage of COVID-19, all aspects of students' academic engagement were lower than before the outbreak stage of COVID-19 (p < .001). BF had a positive influence on academic engagement (β = .253, p < .001), and anxiety weakened the relationship between BF and academic engagement (β = -.138, p = .001). BF by college students due to the long-term epidemic increased their academic engagement, and students with high BF had positive motivation and performance in academic achievements. However, the different degrees of anxiety brought by the outbreak decreased the positive influence of BF on academic engagement.