Apgar Dawn, Cadmus Thomas
Department of Sociology, Anthropology, Social Work, and Criminal Justice, Seton Hall University, 400 South Orange Avenue, South Orange, NJ 07079 USA.
Clin Soc Work J. 2022;50(1):55-66. doi: 10.1007/s10615-021-00790-3. Epub 2021 Feb 11.
Developing coping and self-care strategies has always been important for social work students as they prepare for work that can take a psychological, emotional, mental, and physical toll and adversely impact their health and well-being. The COVID-19 pandemic is unprecedented in its impact on social work education as it forced students to quickly transition to online learning and leave field sites abruptly to do remote activities. The degree to which and how social work students effectively coped with these changes has not been adequately studied, despite recognition that understanding how personal experiences and affective reactions influence professional judgment and behavior is a critical social work competency. To help fill this void, a mixed-methods study was conducted using video narratives and survey data to assess the coping and self-regulation skills of a cohort of undergraduate social work students. Findings indicate that these students experienced multiple stressors in all aspects of their biopsychosocial functioning due to COVID-19. Many coping skills learned for use with clients were demonstrated by students themselves. Self-sufficient, avoidant, and socially-supported coping mechanisms were frequently used and relied on by students. Use of self-distraction and active coping increased, while denial decreased within the first month after transitioning to remote learning. Implications of the findings for social work education, practice, and research are discussed.
制定应对和自我护理策略对社会工作专业的学生来说一直都很重要，因为他们所准备从事的工作可能会对心理、情感、精神和身体造成影响，并对他们的健康和幸福产生不利影响。新冠疫情对社会工作教育的影响是前所未有的，它迫使学生迅速转向在线学习，并突然离开实地实习场所去进行远程活动。尽管人们认识到了解个人经历和情感反应如何影响专业判断和行为是一项关键的社会工作能力，但社会工作专业的学生在多大程度上以及如何有效地应对这些变化，尚未得到充分研究。为了填补这一空白，我们开展了一项混合方法研究，使用视频叙事和调查数据来评估一群本科社会工作专业学生的应对和自我调节技能。研究结果表明，由于新冠疫情，这些学生在其生物心理社会功能的各个方面都经历了多重压力源。学生们展示了许多他们为与客户打交道而学到的应对技能。学生们经常使用并依赖自给自足、回避和社会支持的应对机制。在过渡到远程学习后的第一个月内，自我分散注意力和积极应对的使用增加，而否认则减少。本文讨论了研究结果对社会工作教育、实践和研究的启示。
