College Students’ Wellness Status and Coping Mechanisms during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Toward Responsive Counseling Interventions

Abstract

Intensively disrupting higher education, the COVID-19 pandemic had undeniably affected college students’ overall well-being. Consequently, there was a need for effective coping strategies for them to manage the unprecedented academic and psychosocial struggles they faced. This study examined the wellness status and perceived coping mechanisms of college students during the pandemic. Utilizing a descriptive-correlational research design, data were collected from 404 allied-health and non-allied health students enrolled in selected academic programs of a private university in Makati City. The study used a validated researcher-made Wellness Status Questionnaire and an adapted version of Carver’s Brief Coping Orientation to Problems Experienced (Brief COPE) Inventory. Results showed that participants generally exhibited a moderate level of wellness, with mental wellness obtaining the highest mean, followed by emotional and physical wellness. Generally, the students sometimes experienced positive wellness behaviors across the three domains. As regards coping mechanisms, they usually employed coping strategies to a medium amount, with problem-focused coping appearing as the most frequently utilized orientation, followed by emotion-focused coping, whereas avoidant or less useful coping strategies were normally practiced only to a little extent. Students predominantly relied on adaptive coping strategies while maintaining satisfactory levels of wellness despite the challenges brought about by the pandemic. Counseling interventions are empirically designed to strengthen the students’ adaptive coping skills, promote their holistic wellness, and enhance their resilience during periods of crisis and transition.