THE IMPACT OF COVID-19 PANDEMIC ON THE COGNITIVE FUNCTIONS OF THE INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS ENROLLED IN GEORGIAN UNIVERSITIES
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Abstract
The impact of COVID19 on lifestyle, mental and physical health in students is well investigated but little is known regarding such impact on cognitive functions of international students. In the frame of presented study, the cognitive functions of international students enrolled in Georgian universities were investigated. Two groups of students were tested – students who stayed in Georgia during the pandemic period, and students who stayed in their country of origin with their families (mainly in India).
The data was collected from August 2021 to April 2022. The stress level of participants was evaluated via the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) and cognitive functions were evaluated using Digit Span Tasks, Visual Search Task, and Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST). The results showed that the perceived stress level for both groups’ students was moderate and no significant difference between stress levels was measured. Results of cognitive tests showed that short-term and working memories are affected similarly in the two groups of students. However, performances of the visual search task and WCST showed that second-group students have a decline in attention and executive functions. These results indicate that the pandemic situation had affected international students in terms of stress similarly but deteriorated general cognitive functions in students who stayed with their families
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