The Role of Coping Strategies in the Resilience and Well-Being of College Students during COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

The study aimed to investigate the relationship between resilience and well-being of college students during the Covid-19 pandemic and to determine the moderating role of coping strategies in this relationship. Resilience was defined based on the concept of Connor and Davidson (2003), who defined it as an individual characteristic that allows an individual to thrive in the face of adversity, coping strategies were categorized into approach or avoidant coping strategies as measured by COPE Brief, and well-being was conceptualized based on  Warwick-Edinburgh's concept of mental well-being. It included 243 college students enrolled in one of the 12 online social science courses in one college in Metro Manila who were administered through online platform the Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-being Scale, Brief COPE, Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RISC-10), and Impacts of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Life of Higher Education Students Questionnaire. Results showed a significant relationship between resilience and well-being.  Approach coping strategy also showed significant positive relationships with the three criterion variables: academic, social, and mental well-being, indicating that the more a student employs approach coping strategy, the better is his or her academic, social, and mental well-being. On the other hand, the Avoidant coping strategy was negatively associated with academic-related emotions, showing that the less the use of the Avoidant coping approach, the more positive are the academic-related emotions felt by students during online classes. However, both coping strategies failed to moderate the relationship between resilience and well-being. It is recommended that schools implement programs and services that will train students on how to cope during pandemic.