ABSTRACT

This study explores how coping and social support assist students in managing communication stressors with two key academic groups─instructors and classmates─during COVID-19. Undergraduates (N = 70) provided open-ended responses of how they cope with stressful interactions. Grounded, iterative analysis reveals two themes. First, students use problem-focused coping by seeking informational and instrumental support from peers and instructors as well as acting independently to help themselves. These actions directly manage stress. Second, students use emotion-focused coping by seeking emotional support from peers and family members as well as engaging in self-soothing. These behaviors ease distressful feelings. Aligning with the research literature, findings show that emotional support improves stress appraisal and buffers students from stress whereas informational and instrumental support provides students with adaptive coping. Study results add new insights regarding the importance of seeking peer support to help manage COVID-19-related communication stress. Recommendations are offered for instructors teaching online as COVID-19 evolves.

摘要

本研究探讨了应对和社会支持如何帮助学生在 COVID-19 期间管理与两个关键学术群体——教师和同学——的沟通压力源。本科生 (N = 70) 提供了他们如何应对压力互动的开放式回答。扎根的迭代分析揭示了两个主题。首先，学生通过寻求同伴和教师的信息和工具支持以及独立行动来帮助自己来使用以问题为中心的应对方式。这些行动直接管理压力。其次，学生通过寻求同伴和家庭成员的情感支持以及进行自我安慰来使用以情绪为中心的应对方式。这些行为可以缓解痛苦的感觉。与研究文献一致，研究结果表明，情感支持改善了压力评估并缓冲了学生的压力，而信息和工具支持为学生提供了适应性应对。研究结果增加了关于寻求同伴支持以帮助管理与 COVID-19 相关的沟通压力的重要性的新见解。随着 COVID-19 的发展，为在线教学的教师提供了建议。