The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) significantly disrupted human activities all over the world. Despite this, little or nothing is known about mental health and coping strategies during the COVID-19 pandemic among the unemployed and employed people in Nigeria. Therefore, this study was an effort towards bridging this knowledge gap. We employed a qualitative design with 66 participants (age range = 18–62 years) who described how the COVID-19 pandemic affected their mental health and how they coped during the COVID-19 pandemic. The data were analyzed using thematic analysis. Our findings revealed distressing impacts (e.g., depressive and anxious impacts, stress, loss of job, financial challenges, loneliness, etc.) for the unemployed and employed groups. Further, the unemployed group utilized more positive coping strategies (e.g., engaging in activities, hope, relaxation, connecting with others, etc.) than the employed group; whereas, only the employed group utilized a maladaptive coping strategy (alcohol consumption). These data have practical implications for protecting mental health and fostering positive coping in these groups during and beyond the COVID-19 pandemic.

中文翻译：

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COVID-19 大流行期间的心理健康和应对策略：对尼日利亚失业和就业人员的定性研究

2019 年冠状病毒病 (COVID-19) 严重扰乱了全世界的人类活动。尽管如此，在尼日利亚失业和就业人员的 COVID-19 大流行期间，人们对心理健康和应对策略知之甚少或一无所知。因此，本研究旨在弥合这一知识鸿沟。我们对 66 名参与者（年龄范围 = 18-62 岁）进行了定性设计，他们描述了 COVID-19 大流行如何影响他们的心理健康以及他们在 COVID-19 大流行期间如何应对。使用主题分析对数据进行分析。我们的研究结果揭示了失业和就业群体的痛苦影响（例如，抑郁和焦虑的影响、压力、失业、财务挑战、孤独感等）。此外，失业群体采用更积极的应对策略（例如，从事活动、希望、放松、与他人联系等）比受雇群体；而只有受雇组使用了适应不良的应对策略（饮酒）。这些数据对于在 COVID-19 大流行期间和之后保护心理健康和促进这些群体的积极应对具有实际意义。