Coping methods and college adjustment in a sample of U.S. Undergraduate students during the COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

Objective: To examine the associations between coping methods and college adjustment among a sample of U.S. undergraduate students during the COVID-19 pandemic. Participants: We used a sample of 117 undergraduate students between the age of 18–25 years old. Approximately 76% of the sample identified as women and 58% identified as White. Methods: Participants completed online questionnaires that assessed the use of forward-focused coping, trauma-focused coping, and several domains of college adjustment (i.e., academic adjustment, social adjustment, personal-emotional adjustment, and attachment). We used multiple regression to identify the association between coping methods and college adjustment, using race and gender as control variables. Results: Forward-focused coping methods were significantly and positively related to academic adjustment, social adjustment, and attachment, while and trauma-focused coping methods were significantly and negatively related to personal-emotional adjustment. Conclusions: The use of forward-focused coping methods may be beneficial for undergraduate students during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Keywords:

• College students
• coping
• COVID-19

Acknowledgment

Findings from this study were presented at the virtual 2020 convention of the American Psychological Association.

Conflict of interest disclosure

The authors have no conflicts of interest to report. The authors confirm that the research presented in this article met the ethical guidelines, including adherence to the legal requirements, of United States and received approval from the Institutional Review Board of Pennsylvania State University.

Funding

No funding was used to support this research and/or the preparation of the manuscript.