Gallery Presentation International Positive Psychology Association 7th IPPA World Congress 2021

Approach Coping is Associated with Higher Flourishing and Post Traumatic Growth during the Covid-19 Lockdown (#320)

Viviane Seyranian 1 , Angelica Spata 1 , Frank Nieblas 1 , Ian Thacker 2 , Nicole Duong 3 , Paul Beardsley 1
  1. Cal Poly Pomona, Pomona, CA, United States
  2. Education, University of Texas at San Antonio, San Antonio, TX, USA
  3. Claremont Graduate University, Claremont

 

The Covid-19 outbreak changed life for many people with physical distancing, the stress of becoming ill, unprecedented closures, and transitions to online classes and work from home (UNESCO, 2020). Students in particular were challenged with a shift to online settings, which radically changed learning and social interactions. Little is scientifically known about student coping (Folkman, 1984; Folkman & Lazarus, 1988) during the pandemic. The current study investigated how types of coping (approach, avoid, humor, and religion) affected students’ flourishing and posttraumatic growth (positive life changes) during the lockdown (April 25-May 8th, 2020) in Southern California. In line with the coping literature (Gustems-Carnicer & Calderon, 2012), we predicted that approach coping (active coping, positive reframing, planning, acceptance, seeking emotional support, and seeking informational support) would be associated with better student outcomes. Students (N=257) from a Hispanic-Serving University in Southern California were recruited via the psychology subject pool to complete an online survey with the brief coping measure (Carver, 1997), Flourishing (Diener & Biwas-Diener, 2009), and Post Traumatic Growth Inventory (PTGI, relating to others subscale, Tedeschi & Calhoun, 1996). Two separate multiple regression analyses showed that the four different coping styles significantly predicted flourishing (R2 = .28, R2adj=.26, F(4, 253)=23.97, p<.001) and PTGI (R2 = .15, R2adj=.14, F(4, 253)=11.05, p<.001. Approach coping was associated with higher flourishing (b= .45, t(253) = 7.71, p<.001) and avoidant coping was associated with lower flourishing (b= -.27, t(253) = -4.75, p<.001). Results also revealed that approach coping was associated with more PTGI (b= .38, t(253) = 5.93, p<.001) and humor coping was associated with less PTGI (b= -.13, t(253) = -2.06, p<.001). These results underline the positive mental health benefits of employing approach coping to support wellbeing and help spur positive life changes during difficult times.

 


 

  • Keywords: Coping and Emotion Regulation, Education, Resilience and Posttraumatic Growth