Background: The internet-based remote learning and pedagogical revolution in the era of the covid pandemic has contributed to the boom in video conferencing technologies and resulted in new phenomena of exhaustion and fatigue experienced during virtual meetings.
Objective: To examine the psychometric properties of the Zoom Exhaustion and Fatigue Scale (ZEFS) in the Indian university student population and to explore its impact on mental health.
Method: Five hundred and seven students participated in this study and 484 completed the ZEFS and the Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale (DASS) via online survey. Psychometric validation of the ZEFS was performed with confirmatory factor analysis and reliability was assessed with Cronbach alpha and composite reliability. Pearson correlations were used to explore the relationship between the ZEFS and the DASS.
Results: The results showed excellent reliability of the full ZEFS scale with a high Cronbach alpha and composite reliability score (0.94). The validity of the ZEFS within the Indian student sample was supported with favorable fit indices (CFI = 0.968, GFI = 0.932, AGFI = 0.897, CMIN/DF = 3.198, RMSEA = 0.06) consistent with the original factor structure. The Depression, Anxiety, and Stress scales of the DASS were found to be significantly correlated with Zoom fatigue (p < .01).
Conclusion: Our data suggest that the Indian version of the ZEFS is a psychometrically sound measure to assess Zoom fatigue in the Indian student population.