The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted humanity in many ways, initially with overwhelming effects on health systems and later triggering a crisis in socioeconomic and cultural structures, especially in emerging countries, culminating in a syndemic (Bispo Júnior and Santos, 2021). From an individual perspective, isolation and the feeling of fear caused by the pandemic negatively impacted self-efficacy with an increase in self-perceived stress (Diotaiuti et al., 2023). In educational spaces, this health emergency resulted in a need to adapt teaching and learning strategies and changed the dynamics of schools and universities worldwide.

In the context of higher education, difficulties in the transition to e-learning were related to the lack of infrastructure for online classes due to low investments in public universities. Difficulties in adapting to different technologies and the lack of internet access faced by students caused an increase in dropout rates (Peloso et al., 2020; Nunes, 2021; Turnbull et al., 2021). Factors such as social isolation, financial issues, internet connectivity, and, in general, the overall pandemic situation have created a conducive environment for students to experience anxiety symptoms (Ezra et al., 2021). Furthermore, the impact of the pandemic on the mental health and wellbeing of the population (Salari et al., 2020), especially young adults who are at greater risk of developing stress, anxiety, and depression (Varma et al., 2021), increased the risk of academic failure among students (Oliveira-Silva et al., 2021b) and, consequently, leading to dropouts in universities.

Scientific literature has reported dropout as a result of academic failure or low academic adaptation, which is usually related to a lack of motivation (Costa et al., 2018), anxiety/depression (Oliveira-Silva et al., 2021a), learning difficulties (Lima and Zago, 2018), burnout (Marôco et al., 2020), and, on a large scale, quality of life (QoL) (Baalmann, 2024). The cause-consequence relationship between these variables is still unclear, and the pandemic context requires a specific analysis of this relationship.

QoL is a broad concept related to the individual's subjective perception of wellbeing and position in life, which, in the health context, is related to the aspects that have an important influence on the individual's physical and mental wellbeing (WHOQOL Group, 1995). From the perspective of university students, QoL has an important correlation with physical activities, sleep quality, mental health, and factors that play an important role in the academic trajectory of students, influencing academic performance and retention in the university (Carpi et al., 2022; Baalmann, 2024).

Therefore, considering the impacts of the pandemic on university students' academic paths, this study was carried out to contribute to strengthening the knowledge of the impacts of COVID-19 on higher education students. Furthermore, the study was undertaken to understand the need to prepare educational environments to provide pedagogical support to students, in addition to creating strategies focused on mitigating the negative consequences brought about by the pandemic. Hence, this study aimed to identify the feelings experienced by university students during the COVID-19 pandemic and their correlation with academic adaptation and quality of life (QoL).

The predominance of women students found in this study is similar to other Brazilian university contexts (Demenech et al., 2021). The relevant prevalence of negative feelings, such as exhaustion, discouragement, irritation, insecurity, drowsiness, anxiety, worry, and tiredness, may be closely related to the development of burnout syndrome and could indicate predisposing factors to the development of common mental disorders, such as depression or anxiety (Da Silva Oliveira et al., 2020).

It is acknowledged that prolonged social distancing during the pandemic, prior to vaccination, when the approach was to stop the spread of the virus, may have resulted in these emotions. This situation led to an increase in anxiety in many individuals who were restricted to in-person interactions with only a few family members and had to rely on digital means for socializing. Furthermore, it was observed that people experienced depressive feelings as a result of being separated from relatives and friends, being isolated and worried about infecting others, having fear of illness and death (themselves and others), and having diminished quality of sleep (Camacho-Zuñiga et al., 2021; Di Napoli et al., 2021).

The findings reveal that personal and mental health factors were significantly correlated with all emotions, highlighting the impact of the pandemic on individuals' inner lives and resulting mental health repercussions. Even prior to the pandemic, it was projected that mental health conditions would cost the global economy US$ 16 trillion by 2030 if left unaddressed. The experiences and research reported during the pandemic (Feter et al., 2021) indicate that more investments (Tausch et al., 2022), and the attention of healthcare professionals and universities are urgently needed for mental health. This attention is especially important for students who have to navigate part of their higher education under these conditions.

According to a recent study, a variety of individual and external factors affected the anxiety and stress levels among students. After a year of distance learning due to the pandemic, students expressed various concerns regarding the standard of education they would receive in person, whether they had been sufficiently prepared, and their ability to acquire various skills, such as building rapport with their instructors (Yaghi, 2022).

Although the ALEQ-r scores showed good academic adaptation (>3.0) among the participants in the personal, interpersonal, career/course, and institutional dimensions, the study dimension had lower scores, suggesting the student's difficulty in establishing study behaviors. These results are similar to those from other studies (Carleto et al., 2018; Oliveira-Silva et al., 2021a).

Carl Rogers, a leader in the theoretical approach to humanism, stated that education and psychology should consider the student as the center of the process (Joseph, 2020). Furthermore, this highlights the role of the professor as a facilitator. To be a facilitator implies supporting students in their knowledge building, recognizing their previous experience and their feelings toward social facts to be discussed, being non-directive, exploring reflection and critical analysis, and encouraging discussion for learning (Bondioli, 2015).

We suggest that, in the pandemic context, considering the challenges reported by students with technology-mediated education, such as a lack of concentration, isolation and limited interaction with peers and faculty, interruptions in the learning process, and stress (Gaur et al., 2020), the need for facilitators and a humanistic approach became even more evident.

As the educational landscape continues to evolve following the pandemic, it is essential for educators to discuss the role of tutorship and mentorship in supporting their students, by providing guidance on defining their learning goals, and in understanding required competencies considering the course and role on society, to show them the different types of learning styles and strategies educators use to motivate learning among their students and demonstrate how they can use this knowledge for academic success. Tutorship has been recognized in the literature as a strategy to not only accelerate learning but also provide academic mentorship and build in-depth relationships with students (Kraft and Falken, 2021).

A positive and caring relationship supports students in their social-emotional development, and when paired with professional development, this results in the students successfully navigating the educational system (Bowman-Perrott et al., 2014; Balfanz and Byrnes, 2018). Tutorship and mentorship can potentially bring more clarity to students' pathways in education and could contribute to academic success despite the challenges.

It is important to highlight that our research data showed the copying skill of students regarding the positive correlation between course/career, study, and the institutional aspects of academic adaptation and positive feelings. Course/career correlated with disposition, study willingness, and energy, and institutional willingness and alertness.

All areas of human life are connected, making it impossible to divide course/career interests into emotional and social aspects. Carl Rogers' humanism theory for education, as a theoretical reference, emphasizes the fully functioning person, who combines the aspects of living the experiences with full presence, being open to sense the world around them, people, and themselves internally, and being able to trust their own feelings and reactions as guidance (Rogers, 1963).

The humanism theory for education has contributed to reflecting on a higher education approach. In Rogers' perspective, the fully functioning person must experience the educational process as part of their being and not being disconnected from their personal interests, feelings, and previous experiences in life (Rogers, 1963). The pandemic brought a variety of challenges, but not only that. It aroused feelings of fear and unsafe, yet, in parallel, people felt hope and used good feelings for coping, as we described in our research findings. All these aspects are part of the education process and should be of concern to educational institutions.

A greater occurrence of connections was detected in the personal dimension, which pertains to an individual's sense of their own wellbeing. Students are consistently incorporating new aspects into their sense of self, and personal experiences and interactions in educational settings can influence the development of their self-image. These aspects can be either constructive or destructive self-regard, which can have an impact on their academic performance and social assimilation (Schwarz et al., 2021).

It is theorized that, during the pandemic, this process may have been impaired, impacting the described results in this research. The academic environment reflected not only the worldwide preoccupation with the pandemic and its consequences but also the internal dynamic of schools and universities.

In this perspective, elements of feeling confused, exhausted, depressed, irritated, sleepy, worried, tense, and angry appeared in the model as negative predictors of academic adaptation, in contrast with two feelings—excited and willing—as positive predictors. Other studies have also proposed that the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in conflicting feelings among students, characterizing their adaptation to the e-learning context in both negative and positive ways (Nunes, 2021; Turnbull et al., 2021).

Regarding the QoL of the students in the pandemic context, the domains of vitality, emotional aspect, and mental health had the lowest scores. These findings support previous research indicating that students struggle to balance their academic responsibilities with the demands of their personal lives, which can affect their personal relationships and self-image. Consequently, this impact can lead to the onset of anxiety and depression (Li et al., 2018; Viana and Sampaio, 2019; Kaparounaki et al., 2020).

Additionally, in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, the literature has shown that lower QoL is associated with frustrations stemming from adapting to the online format from the face-to-face format, living in neighborhoods with a high prevalence of infection, and experiencing the presence of stress and depression symptoms (Abdullah et al., 2021).

In general, the correlations of feelings were stronger with QoL than with ALEQ-r domains. Other studies have reported that, during the pandemic period, students with lower QoL were usually those who were not performing physical activities and adapted less to e-learning (Abdullah et al., 2021; Azzi et al., 2022). This finding may be associated with an abrupt change to a new way of teaching and learning, which, together with social isolation, may have given rise to the emergence of negative feelings. This result corroborates our findings that QoL is connected with not only health aspects (physical and mental health) but also academic factors (Grande et al., 2021) and emotional regulation (Panayiotou et al., 2021), where the personal dimension plays a key role.

If it was already important for educators to establish trustful relationships with students to understand their goals, feelings, and perspectives, it has become even more relevant at present. Being attentive to mental health disorders among students and supporting and preparing them to be leaders in their communities are active roles that schools and universities must play in the humanistic perspective of education.

A recent study reported that psychosomatic disorders were more prevalent among students with lower QoL scores (Azzi et al., 2022), and they were more susceptible to bad feelings during the pandemic period. Additionally, in different research, it was found that students who had the highest emotional self-regulation were able to deal more satisfactorily with negative feelings and obtained higher QoL scores (Panayiotou et al., 2021). Universities aim to provide education to people and improve society through knowledge, leadership, and social transformation. It is only possible when universities are committed to a broader perspective of education and not limited to “doing and how to do it” but also on “being and who to be.”

The limitations of the present study were associated with the small sample size obtained due to the in-person approach in a time of remote education; thus, it was not possible to aim for a homogeneous sample. Consequently, there was no comparison among students from different undergraduate courses, genders, or the presence of academic failures. Furthermore, the instrument developed for this study was not validated by experts, presenting only the reliability measure as a parameter. Moreover, the cross-sectional nature of the study did not allow for follow-up with students on their perceptions of their own feelings, quality of life, and academic success.

During the pandemic period, students intensely experienced feelings such as weariness, discouragement, irritation, exhaustion, insecurity, drowsiness, anxiety, worry, and tiredness. The results of the present study showed that students had good academic adaptation but faced difficulties in presenting assertive study behaviors and low QoL in the vitality, emotional, and mental health domains. The feelings reported by the students during the pandemic could predict variations in academic adaptation and physical and mental health. Additionally, QoL analysis revealed a greater correlation of feelings with the domains related to the individual's perception of mental health. These results show that, in the context of public health emergencies, investments are needed in institutional policies to support students, avoid difficulties in academic adaptation that impact dropout, and avoid the emergence/worsening of mental health conditions such as anxiety and depression.

The original contributions presented in the study are included in the article/Supplementary material, further inquiries can be directed to the corresponding author.

The studies involving humans were approved by Comitê de Ética em Pesquisa da Universidade Federal do Tocantins. The studies were conducted in accordance with the local legislation and institutional requirements. The participants provided their written informed consent to participate in this study.

PC: Conceptualization, Data curation, Investigation, Methodology, Project administration, Writing—original draft, Writing—review & editing. GO: Conceptualization, Data curation, Formal analysis, Methodology, Writing—original draft, Writing—review & editing. NA: Writing—original draft, Writing—review & editing. MB: Writing—original draft, Writing—review & editing. FQ: Writing—original draft, Writing—review & editing. LN: Conceptualization, Investigation, Writing—original draft, Writing—review & editing.