**2. Materials and Methods**

The ethics board of the college approved the study (Ref: EA-202155). The research was carried in accordance with the Helsinki Declaration. A cross-sectional web-based observational study was designed and carried out at COD, IAU, KSA from 1 to 31 March 2021. A questionnaire was uploaded online using the website QuestionPro. A consent form was attached with the survey, and confidentiality of the respondent's information was assured. The questionnaire link was shared with the class representatives of various batches of students and with all the faculty and assistants via Email, WhatsAppTM, FacebookTM, and other social media websites, and they were encouraged to share it with their colleagues. Thus, the link was shared through all the primary sources of communication to reach many subjects. The participant recruitment process adapted in our study is shown in Figure 1.

**Figure 1.** Flow chart showing the participant recruitment process of our study.

Upon clicking the link, the participants were directed to the consent section of the study. After they agreed to the survey, they first filled in the demographic details, which included age, gender, educational level, and residence details (living with family or in a dorm, optional question). After filling in these details, a set of questions appeared in a sequence which the participants had to answer. In the current study, we utilized an Arabic version [23] of the Cohen's perceived stress scale (PSS 14) [24] to assess our participants' stress responses during the COVID-19 pandemic. This stress scale was used during the COVID-19 pandemic and it was shown to be effective in assessing the stress levels of the participants [25,26]. The PSS 14 was rated on a 5-point Likert scale ranging from (0 = never) to (4 = very often). Seven positive items were reverse coded (e.g., 0 = 4, 1=3, 2 = 2, etc.), which included items 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, and 13, described as positively stated items in the questionnaire. The total PSS score was obtained by summing all 14 items' scores, and a higher total score indicated higher perceived stress. The scores ranging from 0–18 were considered as low stress, 19–37 were considered as moderate score, and the scores ranging from 38–56 were considered as high stress, as coded earlier by Higgins [27]. The age range was divided into a group of four ranging between 18–20, 21–25, 26–30, and 31 or above. Second- and third-year students were designated as junior year students, while those of fourth-, fifth-, and sixth year, and interns, were considered as senior year students. The inclusion criteria were that the dental students (undergraduate students and interns), faculty, and dental assistants must be studying or working in our university, and the participants voluntarily responded to the survey.
