Lessons learnt from the pandemic: coping strategies and outcomes in the undergraduate population

• Main Author: Wong, Ciera Chia Yun
• Other Authors: -
• Format: Final Year Project
• Language: English
• Published: Nanyang Technological University 2024
• Subjects: Social Sciences; Coping; Resilience; Stressors; Pandemic growth; Post-traumatic growth; Relational intimacy; Vulnerability; Outcomes; Undergraduate students; College students
• Online Access: https://hdl.handle.net/10356/175554
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

During the Covid-19 pandemic, a period of heightened alert caused the stress and anxiety levels to soar. Existing research literature details the negative effects that the pandemic has had on the undergraduate population’s mental health and the stressors they endured. This study aimed to understand the coping strategies employed and the outcomes of these strategies in the undergraduate population during the Covid-19 pandemic, two years after its incidence. 10 interview transcripts were extracted from a larger study and thematic analysis with a grounded theory approach was used to understand the coping strategies of the resilient undergraduate population and the outcomes of the pandemic. Eight themes of coping strategies were generated (Resolving Conflict, Self-Disclosure, Initiating Social Contact, Maintaining Social Bonds, Being Vulnerable, Learning New Skills, Embracing Limitations and Discovering New Vulnerabilities) which were found to be linked to three outcomes (Developing Social Bonds, Deepening Familial Bonds, Personal Growth). Unlike the current literature that reports primarily on the negative effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, this study suggests that in the resilient undergraduate population, there was personal growth, resilience and a deepening of relationships during the pandemic. These positive outcomes found in the resilient population challenges the focus on only the negative effects of the pandemic and beckons for more research to be conducted on the post-traumatic growth of the undergraduate population.