My PhD Saved My Sanity and My Life

In this chapter, I explore my experience with psychological stress during the first year of my doctoral candidature that resulted from the intersection of the COVID-19 pandemic and global Black Lives Matter protests. As a qualitative researcher, I draw on my own autoethnographic vignettes (Ellis. The ethnographic I: A methodological novel about autoethnography. AltaMira Press, 2004) to provide an account of the personal challenges which may be generalizable to minoritised doctoral students during crisis situations. I use the Transactional Model of Stress and Coping (Lazarus and Folkman. Stress, appraisal and coping. Springer, 1984) to identify with and understand the stressors I faced as an insider—a Black, female doctoral student—and share the adaptive coping strategies that I used to be able to focus on my PhD. As a result, I prove the claim that the PhD became my saviour. © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2022.

Emotions, thoughts, and coping strategies of women with infertility problems on changes in treatment during Covid-19 pandemic: A qualitative study.

This study assesses the emotions, thoughts, and coping strategies of women with infertility problems associated with the changes in treatment during the COVID-19 pandemic using Lazarus and Folkman's Transactional Model of Stress and Coping. This qualitative study was based on two Internet forums between October-December 2020, and the comments of 30 women. Four themes were assessed: psychological changes, cognitive changes, changes in social life, and coping strategies. Women reported that the closure of fertility clinics negatively impacted their lives. They experienced despair, uncertainty, disappointment, anger, sadness, and exhaustion from waiting. The expressions of women about coping strategies mostly include emotion-based coping strategies. This study illustrated the importance of using qualitative methods to describe and specify stress and coping strategies in women whose infertility treatment was delayed. It is believed that approaches based on Lazarus and Folkman's model could help healthcare professionals to determine potential stressors for women with infertility during the pandemic, and to identify areas that required improved personal coping strategies.

Research Paper Relationship of Anxiety Management Types and Health-related Variables of People During Lockdown in a German Sample

Background: In the present study, four anxiety coping types and their relationship to bio-and health-psychologically relevant parameters were investigated in the first lockdown phase in Germany. The four anxiety management types are the non-defensive, represser, sensitizer and highly anxious. These types originate from a concept by Byrne (1961), Krohne (1974), whereby the handling of fearful information is examined. According to newer studies from Stueck (2021), these anxiety coping styles during lockdown are related to various other biopsychological and health psychological parameters. Materials and Methods: To investigate the problem and question of the frequency of the anxiety types, the relationship to bio-and health-psychological parameters and age-specific characteristics of these variables, an experimental group was studied (N=325, f=164 m=57 d=1). This study took place 10 days after the lockdown in Germany. Results: The problematic anxiety coping types (Sensitizer, Repressive & Highly Anxious) are represented by 54.2% frequency of occurrence. The Flexible-adaptive type (Non-Defensive) that is by having an acceptable adaptability to the anxiety-provoking situation are prominent with 45.8%. In terms of the correlations with the bio-and health-psychological variables, correlations were found between the problematic anxiety coping styles and the negative expressions in the variables. Conclusion: The study shows the importance of a differential consideration according to age in the expression of problematic anxiety coping styles in particular. The study also showwhat bio-and health-psychological consequences these manifestations of problematic anxiety coping styles can have. In the following article, indications are given as to which interventionastrategies can be applied to deal with these problems psychologically. © 2022, Negah Institute for Scientific Communication. All rights reserved.

What influences tourist behaviors during and after the COVID-19 pandemic? Focusing on theories of risk, coping, and resilience

The threat of the COVID-19 pandemic poses risks and stress to travelers over the long term, impeding tourism demand recovery. This study aims to explore the behavioral consequences of potential tourists' personal perceptions of travel risks in pandemic threats. This study integrates risk communication and stress coping theory to address the research objectives and identifies interventions for psychological resilience. A sample of 1,179 potential adult travelers residing in Korea was surveyed online through quota sampling by age, gender, and region of residence, utilizing structural equation modeling to validate the proposed research model. The results showed that the two types of risk perception (personal- and societal-level) had different effects on problem-focused and emotion-focused coping strategies. It was also found that coping strategies, through psychological resilience, can change travel intentions during and after a pandemic. In particular, in terms of short-term stress relief, individuals using emotion-focused coping strategies during the COVID-19 pandemic have been shown to express a willingness to respond to negative emotions more quickly. Insightful implications for the recovery of tourism demand in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and strategies for managing crises in the tourism industry are provided. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)

Online Learning Stress and Chinese College Students' Academic Coping during COVID-19: The Role of Academic Hope and Academic Self-Efficacy.

Colleges around the world have adopted emergency online learning to continue with teaching and learning activities during COVID-19. Existing research has indicated that this teaching mode is perceived negatively by many college students. The difficulty students encounter in emergency online learning can adversely affect their mental health and academic performance. To shed further light on how emergency online learning may have impeded college students' academic functioning and adjustment, this study examined the association between online learning stress and academic coping and the mediating roles of academic self-efficacy and academic hope. It was conducted in early 2021, a year after the outbreak of the pandemic. Ninety-nine Chinese college students in Hong Kong were recruited and they completed an online questionnaire for this study. Results showed that online learning stress was negatively associated with approach academic coping and social support seeking, and the associations were mediated by academic hope. On the other hand, online learning stress was positively associated with avoidance academic coping, which was not mediated by academic hope. The mediation effects of academic self-efficacy were all non-significant. In sum, college students used more passive and maladaptive coping to handle academic problems when they experienced more online learning stress, and this was partly explained by lower levels of academic hope.

Cognitive appraisals and coping strategies of registered nurses in the emergency department combating COVID-19: A scoping review.

OBJECTIVE: Explore the relevant evidence about stress-related cognitive appraisal and coping strategies among registered nurses in the emergency department (EDRNs) coping with the COVID-19 pandemic. METHODS: This scoping review followed the methodological framework of Arksey and O'Malley to map relevant evidence and synthesize the findings. We searched PubMed, EMBASE, CINAHL, Web of Science, and Scopus electronic databases for related studies from inception through February 2, 2022. This review further conducted study selection based on the PRISMA flow diagram and applied Lazarus and Folkman's Psychological Stress and Coping Theory to systematically organize, summarize, and report the findings. FINDINGS: Sixteen studies were included for synthesis. Most of the studies showed that the majority of EDRNs were overwhelmed by the COVID-19 pandemic. Depression, triaging distress, physical exhaustion, and intention to leave ED nursing were cited as major threats to their wellness. Additionally, comprehensive training, a modified triage system, a safe workplace, psychological support, promotion of resilience, and accepting responsibility may help EDRNs cope with pandemic-related challenges effectively. CONCLUSION: The long-lasting pandemic has affected the physical and mental health of EDRNs because they have increased their effort to respond to the outbreak with dynamically adjusted strategies. Future research should address a modified triage system, prolonged psychological issues, emergency healthcare quality, and solutions facing EDRNs during the COVID-19 or related future pandemics. CLINICAL RELEVANCE: EDRNs have experienced physical and psychological challenges during the pandemic. The ED administrators need to take action to ensure EDRNs' safety in the workplace, an up-to-date triage system, and mental health of frontline nurses to provide high-quality emergency care for combating COVID-19.

Risk of postpartum depressive symptoms is influenced by psychological burden related to the COVID-19 pandemic and dependent of individual stress coping.

PURPOSE: There are different studies worldwide, which have shown a higher risk of mental disorders due to the COVID-19 pandemic. One aim of this study was to identify influencing factors of the psychological burden related to the COVID-19 pandemic and the impact on the development of postpartum depression. Further, the role of individual stress and coping strategies was analyzed in this context. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Between March and October 2020, 131 women in obstetric care at the LMU Clinic Munich completed a questionnaire at consecutive stages during their perinatal period. The times set for the questionnaire were before birth, 1 month, 2 months, and 6 months after birth. The questionnaire was designed to evaluate the psychological burden related to the COVID-19 pandemic. For this a modified version of the Stress and coping inventory (SCI) and the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) was used. RESULTS: We could show that the psychological burden related to the COVID-19 pandemic influenced the EPDS score 1, 2 and 6 months after birth. In addition, the prenatal stress and individual coping strategies affected the EPDS and the burden related to the COVID-19 pandemic before and after birth significantly. CONCLUSION: An association of the psychological burden related to the COVID-19 pandemic with the risk of developing postpartum depressive symptoms could be shown in this study. In this context, the separation of the partner and the family was recognized as an important factor. Furthermore, the SCI was identified as an effective screening instrument for identifying mothers with an increased risk of postpartum depression. Hereby allowing primary prevention by early intervention or secondary prevention by early diagnosis.

COVID-19 quarantine stressors and management among Lebanese students: a qualitative study.

The aim of this research paper is to examine the current situation, emotional reactions of university students and their coping mechanisms during and after the COVID-19 quarantine. The study was undertaken in a major higher education institution in Lebanon. An exploratory qualitative research design was adopted. A phenomenological qualitative method was employed where, semi-structured interviews were carried out among 20 university students during and 3 months after release from quarantine. The qualitative analysis have revealed 5 themes during quarantine period namely "Concerns regarding learning and evaluation methods", "Overwhelming load", "Dealing with technical difficulties", "Confinement", and "Coping with problems", in addition to 3 themes after the quarantine period namely "Relief of academic stress", "Fear of becoming infected and jeopardizing family health", "Stigma of being infected". The quarantine has inflicted multiple psychological challenges among university students, which should be highlighted and mediated by higher education institution in order to support the students' learning and their academic achievement.

Gender Differences in the Psychosocial Functioning of Parents During the COVID-19 Pandemic.

The COVID-19 pandemic significantly affected family life, increasing parental stress around health, job losses, reduced salaries, and maintaining domestic life in lockdown and social isolation. The transition to home-schooling and remote work with school and workplace closures caused additional stressors as families began living, working, and educating in one place. This research aims to understand the relationship between the pandemic and parental stress, focusing on family well-being and established characteristics of the family unit that may cause some family members to experience the adverse consequences of the pandemic in more or less profound ways, especially mothers. Previous research shows that mothers carry more family responsibilities than fathers and can experience higher stress levels. This study employed a quantitative cross-sectional online survey to extend our understanding of the interaction between home-schooling, work and home life, and stress levels in a group of 364 parents. In total, 232 mothers and 132 fathers completed the survey. Results revealed mothers were 10 times more likely to be responsible for home-schooling than fathers, and 44% of mothers felt they had no help with home-schooling and were generally more stressed than fathers. These results show that lack of support, managing home-schooling, and being a mother predicted increased stress. 10% of mothers reported leaving their jobs due to pressure added by home-schooling. This study broadens the understanding of the pandemic's impact on gender imbalances in family responsibilities. It emphasises the need for extra consideration for the impact on mothers as we emerge from this pandemic.

Love in the Time of COVID: Perceived Partner Responsiveness Buffers People From Lower Relationship Quality Associated With COVID-Related Stressors

External stressors can erode relationship quality, though little is known about what can mitigate these effects. We examined whether COVID-related stressors were associated with lower relationship quality, and whether perceived partner responsiveness-the extent to which people believe their partner understands, validates, and cares for them-buffers these effects. When people in relationships reported more COVID-related stressors they reported poorer relationship quality at the onset of the pandemic (N = 3,593 from 57 countries) and over the subsequent 3 months (N = 1,125). At the onset of the pandemic, most associations were buffered by perceived partner responsiveness, such that people who perceived their partners to be low in responsiveness reported poorer relationship quality when they experienced COVID-related stressors, but these associations were reduced among people who perceived their partners to be highly responsive. In some cases, these associations were buffered over the ensuing weeks of the pandemic.

Predictors of children's emotion regulation outcomes during COVID-19: Role of conflict within the family.

Objective: This work aimed to analyze the role of family conflict on children's emotion regulation and stress outcomes during the COVID-19 pandemic. Background: The COVID-19 pandemic brought novel stress to families. The stress experienced could impact family relationships-specifically, perceptions of closeness and patterns of conflict. Positive family environment and high-quality family relationships are associated with adaptive coping and lower levels of stress among children. Method: Data were collected online from 110 participants at baseline and again 30 days later. Associations between parent-child relationship, sibling relationships, and child stress and emotion regulation outcomes 30 days later were tested through multiple stepwise regression. Results: Both significant regression models suggest that parent-child conflict is the strongest predictor of child stress and negativity over the 30-day assessment period. Sibling conflict predicted child stress but not negativity. Conclusion: Family conflict during the COVID-19 pandemic influenced children's emotion regulation outcomes as seen through significant associations between child-parent conflict, sibling conflict, perceived child stress, and children's negativity. Implications: Family scientists and practitioners should consider interventions that help parents teach their children how to cope with their own stresses and emotions after conflict.

Pandemic Stress and Coping in Adults with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities in Urban Los Angeles: A Qualitative Interview Study

Background Method Results Conclusions People with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) from low income diverse communities are experiencing the health impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic most acutely.To better understand the impacts of the pandemic on the wellbeing of adults with IDD from an urban US region and how they are managing the associated disruptions, in-depth qualitative interviews were conducted with 14 participants. A modified grounded theory approach was used to analyze data.Participants experienced stress in response to pandemic media reports and attempted to cope by sanitizing and wearing masks. These did little to reduce stress and may have added to frustration with non-compliers. Social distancing limited access to family, leading to isolation. Participants who engaged in spiritual practices, physical fitness and creative activities were more successful in coping.People with IDD may benefit from mindfulness practices or developing creative hobbies to be better equipped to cope. [ FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of Journal of Mental Health Research in Intellectual Disabilities is the property of Routledge and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full . (Copyright applies to all s.)

Parenting through the COVID-19 pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly altered the experiences of individuals the world over-without precedent. Its impact has been especially harsh for parents. This chapter considers the impacts of COVID-19 through a family systems lens, which highlights the importance of recognizing that a parent is part of a “family unit” and so their experiences of the pandemic are felt directly, from the world around them, and through indirect pathways via the other members of their family. This chapter will explore the stressors grounded in the pandemic that uniquely impact parents and the ways that parents seek to adapt and cope with these stressors in a landscape where many of their pre-COVID coping strategies and supports are rendered inaccessible or untenable. This chapter also explores the various psychosocial outcomes that may eventuate as parents attempt to balance these imposing stressors with their coping resources with varying levels of success including parental burnout, family violence, and posttraumatic growth. Critical during this ongoing pandemic is that negative outcomes are not an inevitability and that growth for individuals, and the family unit, is entirely possible. However, parents must be equipped with strategies to minimize the stressors impacting their family, afforded the capacity to develop new coping mechanisms, have access to new support pathways, embrace psychological flexibility, and to experience perceived control in theirs, and their families, lives. Each family will face this pandemic period differently and it is therefore parents who must navigate the pathway forward on behalf of their family’s unique experiences. © 2021 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Pregnant women's coping strategies, participation roles and social support in the online community during the COVID-19.

Pregnant women are experiencing enormous physical changes and suffering pregnancy-related losses, which may lead to depression symptoms during pregnancy. Given that the onslaught of COVID-19 had exacerbated pregnant women's anxiety because of disruptions in antenatal care and concerns regarding safe delivery, it is worth exploring how they obtain social support to cope with stress during COVID-19. Although many works have explored the impact of coping resources that people have on coping strategies, few studies have been done on the relationship between people's coping strategies and their acquisition of coping resources such as social support. To fill this gap, based on the stress and coping theory (SCT) and social penetration theory (SPT), this study investigates the impacts of pregnant women's different coping strategies on the acquisition of social support and the moderating role of the adverse impacts of COVID-19 and their online participation roles (support providers vs. support seekers) using the data of 814 pregnant women's online behavior from a parenting community in China. Our study indicates that both women's superficial level disclosure and personal level disclosure positively affect online social support received. Moreover, self-disclosure about the adverse impacts of COVID-19 negatively moderates the relationship between personal level disclosure and social support received. Participation role positively moderates the relationship between personal level disclosure and social support received, but negatively moderates the relationship between superficial level disclosure and social support received. This paper makes theoretical contributions to the literature of SCT, SPT and the literature about social support in online communities.

Attachment in the time of COVID-19: Insecure attachment orientations are associated with defiance of authorities’ guidelines during the pandemic

Previous research has linked people’s relational attachment orientations to emotional reactions and coping during crises, and to social trust and trust in societal institutions. The COVID-19 pandemic is a global crisis for which collective efforts, such as social distancing, are necessary to stop the spread of the virus. During previous pandemics, people high in trust have typically adhered to such efforts. In the present study, we investigated whether attachment orientations were related to people’s adherence to authorities’ guidelines to stop the spread of COVID-19. We also tested whether previous mediational findings—linking attachment-related avoidance to welfare state trust via social trust—would replicate. We used a web-based survey of 620 participants. Our findings showed that attachment-related anxiety was linked to low adherence to social distancing regulations. This finding was especially noteworthy because high attachment-anxious participants also experienced more negative emotions, yet negative emotions were generally linked to high adherence. Thus, people higher in attachment anxiety seem to have more difficulties in avoiding social situations despite heightened risk of catching and spreading the virus. In addition, attachment-related avoidance was negatively related to adherence and to welfare state trust, and its effects on welfare state trust were statistically mediated by low social trust. [ FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of Journal of Social & Personal Relationships is the property of Sage Publications, Ltd. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full . (Copyright applies to all s.)

What influences tourist behaviors during and after the COVID-19 pandemic? Focusing on theories of risk, coping, and resilience

The threat of the COVID-19 pandemic poses risks and stress to travelers over the long term, impeding tourism demand recovery. This study aims to explore the behavioral consequences of potential tourists' personal perceptions of travel risks in pandemic threats. This study integrates risk communication and stress coping theory to address the research objectives and identifies interventions for psychological resilience. A sample of 1,179 potential adult travelers residing in Korea was surveyed online through quota sampling by age, gender, and region of residence, utilizing structural equation modeling to validate the proposed research model. The results showed that the two types of risk perception (personal- and societal-level) had different effects on problem-focused and emotion-focused coping strategies. It was also found that coping strategies, through psychological resilience, can change travel intentions during and after a pandemic. In particular, in terms of short-term stress relief, individuals using emotion-focused coping strategies during the COVID-19 pandemic have been shown to express a willingness to respond to negative emotions more quickly. Insightful implications for the recovery of tourism demand in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and strategies for managing crises in the tourism industry are provided.

The role of COVID-19 fears and related behaviors in understanding daily adolescent health behaviors during the pandemic.

We examined the prospective associations of COVID-19 fears and behavior, and daily physical activity and dysregulated eating. Adolescents (N = 31) aged 11-17 completed selected subscales of the Fear of Illness and Virus Evaluation and completed a 7-day health behavior diary. Greater fear of contamination was associated with lower daily physical activity. In contrast, greater COVID-19 precautionary behavior was associated with greater daily physical activity. COVID-19 fears and precautionary behaviors have differential associations with health promoting behavior engagement. Future studies should explore the mechanisms underlying these links to guide adaptation of health behavior interventions for this unique cohort.

How college students are coping with COVID-19: a qualitative study.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to measure college students' coping strategies and change of lifestyle during the COVID-19 pandemic. PARTICIPANTS: Students from the State University in California were recruited during July 2020. METHODS: A total of 11 focus group meetings were conducted. RESULTS: Students' coping strategies were analyzed aligning with the Transactional model of stress and coping - primary appraisal, secondary appraisal and coping efforts, and meaning-based coping. Their physical activity patterns were dramatically changed. They used various ways of managing stress and tried to overcome the unexpected situation caused by COVID-19. CONCLUSIONS: This study mainly analyzed the three constructs of the transactional model: primary appraisal, secondary appraisal and coping efforts, and meaning-based coping. It is expected that the future study will focus on the last construct, coping outcomes/adaptation after the COVID-19 pandemic to measure the association between coping strategies and their outcomes.

The impact of physical activity on psychological well-being in women aged 45-55 years during the Covid pandemic: A mixed-methods investigation.

Evidence suggests that being physically active may improve quality of life through the menopausal transition. This study is one of the first to investigate how meeting the UK Physical Activity Guidelines (PAG) impacted quality of life, stress, coping and menopausal symptoms in UK midlife women, aged 45-55 years, during the unfolding Covid pandemic (Phase 1 quantitative, n=164). The study also explored their motivation to undertake regular physical activity during Covid lockdown (Phase 2 qualitative, n=4). An explanatory sequential mixed-methods design was used to collate quantitative (survey) and qualitative (focus group) data. Participants who met PAG experienced fewer depressive symptoms and less perceived stress, and had better physical and mental health and quality of life than women who did not. This was supported by focus group discussions reporting lack of facilities, time constraints, reduced social support and existing health complaints as barriers to physical activity. Factors motivating women to exercise during Covid lockdown were benefits for physical and mental health, and support from friends (Qualitative). Women are postmenopausal for one-third of their lives, and health interventions need to promote positive healthy ageing around menopause. Menopausal changes could be used by clinicians as cues to action to promote female health and well-being. Clinicians should be promoting the health benefits of exercise and making women aware of the importance of aiming to meet the PAG for optimal health benefits. Women should be encouraged to increase their levels of physical activity by making plans and setting goals and gaining support by exercising with friends or family, as a way to better control menopausal symptoms.

Implications of social isolation, separation, and loss during the COVID-19 pandemic for couples' relationships.

The broad isolation, separation, and loss resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic raise risks for couples' relationship quality and stability. Guided by the vulnerability-stress-adaptation model, we suggest that how pandemic-related loss, isolation, and separation impact couples' relationships will vary depending on the amount and severity of pandemic-related stress, together with enduring personal vulnerabilities (e.g. attachment insecurity), both of which can disrupt adaptive dyadic responses to these challenges. A review of emerging research examining relationship functioning before and during the initial stages of the pandemic offers support for this framework. We draw on additional research to suggest pathways for mitigating relationship disruptions and promoting resilience.