Discursive, Communal, and Individual Coping Strategies: How U.S. Adults Co-constructed Coping During Preliminary COVID-19 Stressors

This interpretive research study explores U.S. adults' lived experiences during the beginning months of the COVID-19 global pandemic. Participants (N= 44), recruited from a convenience sample of U.S. adults, engaged in in-depth semi-structured interviews or focus groups. Through an iterative an...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Health communication 2023-06, Vol.38 (7), p.1373-1387
Main Authors: Zanin, Alaina C., Avalos, Brianna L., Town, Sophia, Tracy, Sarah J., Stanley, B. Liahnna
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Action orientation
Adaptation, Psychological
Adult
Adults
Coping strategies
COVID-19
COVID-19 - epidemiology
Focus Groups
Humans
Iterative methods
Life Style
Pandemics
Public health
Uncertainty
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Summary:This interpretive research study explores U.S. adults' lived experiences during the beginning months of the COVID-19 global pandemic. Participants (N= 44), recruited from a convenience sample of U.S. adults, engaged in in-depth semi-structured interviews or focus groups. Through an iterative analysis of participants' experiences and the theoretical model of communal coping (TMCC), the authors identified three convergent stressors (i.e., isolation, uncertainty, conflict) and several coping strategies related to participants' stressor appraisal (i.e., individual or joint) and action orientation (i.e., individual or joint). Based on these findings, this study offers the novel theoretical concept of Discursive coping and proposes a model for how this perspective might be integrated with current theorizing about individual and communal coping. Implications for communal coping and discursive theory are discussed as well as practical recommendations for public health messaging.
ISSN:1041-0236
1532-7027
DOI:10.1080/10410236.2021.2010347