Investigating the Relationship Among Fear of COVID-19, Student Engagements in Online Learning Environment and Psychological Well-Being: The Mediating Role of Intolerance of Uncertainty

Due to the coronavirus disease pandemic, most countries have made rapid decisions on various topics. Regarding education, to prevent the spread of coronavirus, it was decided to replace face-to-face learning. In Türkiye, universities started offering online classes in March 2019. This transition has raised concerns regarding student engagement in online learning environments (SEOLE) and psychological well-being (PWB) due to the fear of COVID-19 (FC-19) as a psychological construct. Furthermore, intolerance of uncertainty (IU) has emerged as a critical mediator influencing these dynamics. Four models were proposed to examine these relationships. In Models 1 and 2, intolerance of uncertainty mediates the relationship between fear of COVID-19 and student engagement in online learning environments, with age, gender, class level, and perceived success included as control variables. Models 3 and 4 investigate how intolerance of uncertainty mediates the relationship between fear of COVID-19 and psychological well-being, using the same control variables. By synthesizing empirical studies and theoretical frameworks, we elucidate mechanisms that may mitigate the adverse psychological effects of the pandemic among students.