*2.2. Participants*

The participants in the study were 231 university students, aged between 21 and 37 years (M = 23.21, SD = 2.28), with a prevalence of women (*n* = 137, 59%), those living in villages (*n* = 107, 46%), studying physical education and physiotherapy (*n* = 72, 31%), in first level (Bachelor, *n* = 174, 75%), involved in full-time education (*n* = 200, 87%), and second-year of study (*n* = 102, 44%). More details about the demographic characteristics of the students during W2 of the COVID-19 pandemic are listed in Table 1.


*2.3. Measurement*

2.3.1. Perceived Stress

The Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) was developed for measuring psychological stress [79]. This is a self-report ten-item questionnaire, with a 5-point Likert scale (ranging from 0 = never to 4 = very often). The participant indicates how often they experienced a given

type of behavior in the last month. Total scores range between 0 and 40, with higher scores indicating higher levels of perceived stress. The scores ranging between 5 and 11 indicate extremely low stress, 12–17 indicates low, 18–23 average, 24–28 high, and 29–35 extremely high stress. The internal consistency of the PSS-10 assessed by Cronbach's α was 0.88 during W1 and 0.90 during W2.2.3.2. Coping styles.

The Coping Inventory for Stressful Situations (CISS) was developed by Endler and Parker [80] on theoretical and empirical bases to provide a self-report measure of responses to stressful circumstances. The CISS consists of 48 items in three scales (16 items in each dimension): task-oriented, emotion-oriented, and avoidance-oriented coping styles. Taskoriented coping relies on restructuring and focusing on tasks, problem solving, altering the situation, and planning. An emotion-oriented coping style involves self-oriented emotional reactions in stressful situations (e.g., self-preoccupation, self-blaming, upset, getting angry, becoming tense, and fantasizing). Avoidance-oriented coping involves using distractions by other situations or tasks or social gatherings. Respondents rated on a 5-point Likert scale (1 = not at all to 5 = very much) the degree of engagement in various types of activity during a difficult, stressful, or upsetting situation. Higher scores are interpreted as greater use of the coping style. In the present study, the reliability (Cronbach's α) for task-, emotion-, and avoidance-oriented coping was 0.91, 0.91, and 0.80 during W1, and 0.93, 0.92, and 0.86 during W2, respectively.
