Coping Styles adapted during COVID-19 in the Indian Context

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Dr. R. Deepa, Dr. A. Manurali

Abstract

COVID-19, the contagious virus which started in Wuhan, Republic of China in 2019 has created immense stress and anxiety among people. When stress levels increase people tend to use the available resources to mitigate the stress. A   review of literature showed that the research studies carried out during the course of the pandemic in the year 2020 mostly examined the coping styles among health care professionals and the working population and were carried out in countries like China, Germany, Romania, and USA. There was a dearth of studies conducted in the Indian context to examine the coping styles of the general population. Hence this study aims to address this gap by examining the coping styles adapted by people in India to mitigate the unusual situation created by COVID-19. The sample for the study consisted of 209 respondents from Tamilnadu, who were from across various walks of life. The study used the Brief COPE Inventory to measure the coping styles of the respondents. The study found that the "Acceptance" coping style was mostly used by the respondents. Apart from acceptance, respondents had also moderately adapted self-distraction, active coping, planning, and positive reframing styles. The predominant usage of positive coping styles like acceptance, active coping, positive reframing etc., by the respondents of this study shows that they were in a positive emotional state, despite the pandemic. The study also explored the associations between the different coping styles and demographics. The study has important implications with respect to how individuals are coping with stressors in their life. The study can be done in different contexts to understand the coping strategies. The study also calls for further research and investigation to analyze the coping styles across the different socio-demographic factors. It can be replicated on a larger sample across the country and across continents to gain an in depth understanding of the coping strategies.

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