Strategies of University Students to Cope with COVID-19 and the Role of Psychological Flexibility

Abstract

The COVID-19 outbreak is an important stress factor that threatens the health of individuals both physically and psychologically. Within the scope of struggling the outbreak, many precautions, such as quarantine practices, social distance rules, distance education, flexible working hours have been taken and the lives of individuals have changed greatly. One of the groups that have been significantly influenced by this process is university students. The primary purpose of this study is to determine the ways in which university students cope with the outbreak and to understand the role of psychological flexibility. There were 457 university students in the study. Participants completed an online questionnaire form comprising items relevant to their coping strategies and psychological flexibility levels. Results revealed that participants used transcendental coping the most while relational coping the least. Additionally, psychological inflexibility negatively predicted transcendental, behavioral, and relational coping behaviors. These results revealed the fact that psychological flexibility is an important mechanism that channels students’ coping behaviors in such a critical process.