Presenters: Chelsea Anowi, Department of Arts & Sciences, Psychology
Authors: Chelsea Anowi, Alondra Miranda, Katie Perry, Michaella Valenzuela
Faculty Advisor: Jonathan Amburgey, College of Arts & Sciences, Psychology
Institution: Westminster College
The purpose of this study is to explore how experiences of the COVID-19 pandemic among college students relates to individual differences in temperament (ATQ, Evans & Rothbart, 2007), coping styles (COPE: Carver, 1997), perceived stress (PSS-10: Cohen, Kamarck,& Mermelstein, 1983), loneliness (De Jong-Giereld and 3-item R-UCLA Loneliness Scale, Russell, Peplau, & Ferguson, 1978; De Jong Gierveld & Van Tilburg, 2006), and perceived health and wellness during periods of social distancing and isolation. Using an anonymous online survey, a convenience sample of participants in the Salt Lake City, Utah area will be recruited. We hypothesize that individuals that score higher on extraversion will report more negative emotions, more perceived stress and loneliness due to lowered social interaction opportunities and that extraverts will be more likely to report problem-focused coping tendencies as a strategy to lower stress associated with decreased social activity during the pandemic. We also expect individuals that score higher on trait negative affect to report more perceived stress and loneliness and to report tendencies involving emotion-focused coping as a strategy for lowering stress. We hypothesize that these personality traits and coping style differences will predict self-reports of positive and negative health and wellness behaviors. This research is important for understanding relationships among personality traits, coping tendencies, stress, loneliness, social isolation, and wellbeing, and might offer implications for helping inform public health, safety, and mental health awareness as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to evolve and efforts are made to support individuals experiencing loneliness and stress.