Abstract

This study demonstrates how adversity during the covid pandemic has impacted the lives of diverse college students. Specifically, this study analyzes students' perspectives on how they respond through resilience to daily academic, financial, and social stressors impacting their health during the pandemic. For this study, the research questions are: 1) what themes and forms of coping emerge among marginalized racially, ethnically diverse U.S. college students about their mental health and daily life experiences exacerbated by the covid pandemic? 2) And to what do experiences with stressors in combination with the covid pandemic reveal about the mental health of marginalized groups of students? The method used was semi-structured phone call interviews with 14 college students. Results reveal how students deal with covid and non-covid stressors, manage both physical and mental health concerns, and how they utilize resources from formal and informal social support, gaining thriving or surviving style coping strategies. Overall, the findings provide novel insight to the large body of literature on life experiences in response to social inequities, stressors, and adverse life events in times of crisis, highlighting the significance of listening to diverse college students' needs and their physical and mental health concerns.

Notes

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Graduation Date

2022

Semester

Spring

Advisor

Hinojosa, Ramon

Degree

Master of Arts (M.A.)

College

College of Sciences

Department

Sociology

Degree Program

Applied Sociology; Medical Sociology

Format

application/pdf

Identifier

CFE0008964; DP0026297

URL

https://purls.library.ucf.edu/go/DP0026297

Language

English

Release Date

May 2022

Length of Campus-only Access

None

Access Status

Masters Thesis (Open Access)

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