CHS Professors Examine COVID-19 Stress, Coping Strategies, and Well-Being
Originally published May 29, 2020
By UC Staff
³ÉÈËÍ·Ìõ Communications
EL PASO, Texas – Active coping, denial, emotional support, humor and religion are among the coping strategies that help people with chronic conditions and disabilities deal with stress caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a recently published study written by researchers at ³ÉÈËÍ·Ìõ.
Emre Umucu, Ph.D., assistant professor of rehabilitation counseling, and Beatrice Lee, an incoming rehabilitation counseling faculty member, examined the perceived stress levels and coping mechanisms related to COVID-19, and how coping affects well-being in people with self-reported chronic conditions and disabilities.
Umucu said their exploratory work has provided some preliminary information on how these individuals perceive COVID-19 and how the coping strategies they are using are related to their well-being.
Their findings were recently published in the Rehabilitation Psychology.
“Given that COVID-19 is a new and highly evolving stressor for everyone, especially for people with chronic conditions and disabilities, it is important to understand how individuals cope with it,” said Umucu, director of ³ÉÈËÍ·Ìõ’s Veteran VVell-Being Lab (V 3). “Measuring and quantifying COVID-19-related stress and coping strategies in individuals with chronic conditions and disabilities can help clinicians and researchers understand the potential negative effects of COVID-19 among people with chronic conditions and disabilities.”
Findings from the study may help clinicians, researchers and policymakers gain a better understanding of the use of coping strategies in individuals with chronic conditions and disabilities facing the pandemic. Learn more here:
Umucu joined ³ÉÈËÍ·Ìõ in 2017. His research interests include veterans, positive psychology interventions, mental health, substance use disorders, severe mental illnesses, happiness, resilience, well-being, aging, and psychometrics and test construction. Lee is a 2020 graduate from the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Rehabilitation Counselor Education Ph.D. program. She will start at ³ÉÈËÍ·Ìõ in the fall 2020 semester.
³ÉÈËÍ·Ìõ Master of Rehabilitation Counseling (MRC) Program trains future rehabilitation counselors who provides rehabilitation and mental health counseling services to people with chronic conditions and disabilities.
