Commonly reported problems and coping strategies during the COVID-19 crisis: A survey of graduate and professional students

Abstract

Background: The COVID-19 crisis has introduced a variety of stressors, while simultaneously decreasing the availability of strategies to cope with stress. In this context, it could be useful to understand issues that people find most concerning and ways in which they cope with stress. In this study, we explored these questions with a sample of graduate and professional students.Method: Using open-ended assessments, we asked participants (n=305) to identify their biggest challenge or concern (“top problem”), their most effective way of handling stress (“effective strategy”), and their most common way of handling stress (“common strategy”). We applied thematic analysis and evaluated whether participants’ strategies corresponded with evidence-based practices (EBPs). Results: Participants frequently reported top problems relating to productivity (27% of sample), physical health (26%), and emotional health (14%). Distraction was the most frequently classified common strategy (43%), whereas behavioral activation was the most frequently identified effective strategy (50%). Participants who reported a common strategy classified as an EBP reported lower depressive and anxiety symptoms. In contrast, there was no evidence of an association between symptom levels and whether or not participants’ effective strategy was an EBP. Participants who reported the same strategy as both their common and effective strategy (29%) reported lower depressive symptoms than those whose common and effective strategies were different. Conclusions: Our findings highlight stressors that students are experiencing and ways they are coping during the COVID-19 crisis. We discuss how these findings can inform mental health promotion efforts and future research on coping with stressors.

The effects of cumulative stressful educational events on the mental health of doctoral students during the COVID-19 pandemic

“…Therefore, our study provides more evidence that ethnicity, plays a key role in predicting mental health in educational settings (33). Finally, when we adjusted for cognitive factors (coping and lower attentional skills), both factors were associated with higher levels of depression which provides further evidence for the association between poor coping skills and depression (19,20,21,22) as well as attention and depression (23). Crucially, these findings are novel in the literature of doctoral students' mental health.…”

“…However, there is no research on coping skills and doctoral students' mental health. Likewise, the role of attention and its relationship with anxiety and depression has not been addressed either in the doctoral literature despite the evidence showing that better attentional control skills are likely to promote better mental health in college students (23). Identifying both risk-and promotive factors may help offer better support to students in the future.…”

The Effects of Cumulative Stressful Educational Events on the Mental Health of Doctoral Students During the COVID-19 Pandemic

“…Therefore, our study provides more evidence that ethnicity, plays a key role in predicting mental health in educational settings (33). Finally, when we adjusted for cognitive factors (coping and lower attentional skills), both factors were associated with higher levels of depression which provides further evidence for the association between poor coping skills and depression (19,20,21,22) as well as attention and depression (23). Crucially, these findings are novel in the literature of doctoral students' mental health.…”

Promoting Graduate Student Mental Health During COVID-19: Acceptability, Feasibility, and Perceived Utility of an Online Single-Session Intervention

“…These measures, while appropriate to avoid the spread of COVID-19, have led to considerable uncertainty, stress, and disruption for graduate and professional students ( Chirikov et al, 2020 ; Sahu, 2020 ). In open-ended surveys, graduate and professional students report a variety of concerns relating to their health, productivity, and well-being ( Wasil et al, 2021a ). Furthermore, in a recent survey of over 15,000 graduate students, about 32% of students reported elevated depressive symptoms and 39% reported elevated anxiety symptoms ( Chirikov et al, 2020 ).…”