College Student Coping Strategies During COVID-19: Differences Across Gender, Ethnicity, and Academic Level

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic caused tremendous stress in multiple ways for undergraduate college students in emergent adulthood, a period that is already challenging. This study examined the self-reported strategies undergraduate students used to cope with COVID-19-related stress across gender, ethnicity, and academic level using a mixed-method approach. Content analyses revealed four stress-coping strategies as reported by college students: behavioral control coping strategies and three nonbehavioral control coping strategies (including cognitive, informational , and emotional control strategies). Further quantitative analyses suggested that students utilized behavioral control coping strategies much more frequently than nonbehavioral control coping strategies. Additionally, we found that Hispanic/Latino students reported significantly more use of non-behavioral control coping strategies than non-Hispanic/Latino students did when controlling for gender and academic level. We also found a moderate positive relationship between academic level and nonbehavioral control coping strategy use, controlling for gender and ethnicity. The implications of these findings are further discussed