Purpose – This study aims to investigate the relationship between prevention and panic of COVID-19 and distress tolerance, happiness and emotional intelligence (EI) in undergraduate and postgraduate accounting students in Iraq. In other words, this study seeks to answer whether or not different types of prevention and fear of COVID-19 can lead to improved distress tolerance, happiness and EI. Design/methodology/approach – The study’s statistical population comprises 298 undergraduate and 138 postgraduate students in Iraq who were selected as the sample size using the Cochran sampling method. In this study, partial least squares regression (PLS) have been used to investigate the effect of independent variables on the dependent variable. Findings – The results showed a positive and significant relationship between COVID-19 prevention and distress tolerance and happiness, but no significant relationship was observed between COVID-19 prevention and EI. Also, no significant relationship was observed between fear of COVID-19 and distress tolerance and happiness, but there was a positive and significant relationship between fear of COVID-19 and EI. Originality/value – The present study’s results can provide valuable information to everyone and help the development of science and knowledge because so far, and to the best of the authors’ knowledge, no research has examined the impact of prevention and panic of COVID-19 on distress tolerance, happiness and EI in students.

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