Using Family Resources as a Coping Strategy to Manage Stress During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

This paper draws on the resiliency model of family stress, adjustment and adaptation and explores the use of family resources as a coping strategy to manage stress during the COVID-19 pandemic in a subset of Kuwaiti women. A mixed methods research design was used for collecting, analysing and integrating survey and interview data, The most common stressors were social isolation, quarantine and lockdown measures, fear of contagion, increased workload, and fear of shortage of basic needs. The results showed that the Kuwaiti women adopted strategies to cope with stress on three levels: macro-social, relationship, and personal. Quantitative results indicate a significant difference in coping styles between married and unmarried women, especially with regard to positive reframing and passive appraisal. The interviews yielded important new insights such as the important role of social relationships and social support, religious beliefs, personal attitude (active coping) negative emotions (passive coping), and family socialisation and togetherness. Findings also suggest that social support as well as family cohesion and hardiness contributed to increased stress resiliency. This study makes a significant contribution to literature as little research has examined the use of family resources to cope with stress during the pandemic. Key words: family stress, resilience, family resources, coping strategies, women and COVID-19, pandemic, family crisis oriented personal evaluation scale.