Stress and Stressors: The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Students, Faculty and Staff at a Historically Black College/University

Abstract

Due to COVID-19 restrictions, academic institutions have changed their modus operandi, particularly in adopting distance learning in lieu of face-to-face instruction. This has sometimes produced unanticipated effects on students. The purpose of this study was to determine COVID-19 pandemic stressors and coping mechanisms utilized as relief measures by students, faculty, and staff in the College of Health Sciences at a historically Black institution. Cross-sectional study. Sampling: A convenience sample of 209 students, 34 faculty, and 9 staff from the College of Health Sciences at a historically Black institution participated in this study. Instrument: A 32-item Qualtrics survey was utilized to gather demographic data, COVID-19-related stressors, and coping mechanisms. Analysis: Descriptive statistics, Chi-square test for categorical variables, and Cochran–Mantel–Haenszel tests for ordinal variables were used. Female students, African American students (AAS), and undergraduates perceived stress related to the risk of contagion during the pandemic higher than the male students (P-value = 0.0096), other races (P-value = 0.0249) and graduate students (P-value = 0.0141) respectively. Female students perceived more stress related to relationships with relatives (P-value = 0.0128). Caucasian students compared to others (P-value = 0.0240) and graduate students compared to undergraduate students (P-value = 0.0011) reported less perceived stress related to the relationships with other colleagues. Top coping strategies of students and staff included interaction with family and friends, social media, hand hygiene, and meditation/spiritualty. Except for “avoidance of public spaces/transportation”, all other mechanisms were the same for faculty.