Psychological well-being and coping strategies of healthcare students during the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic

BACKGROUND: This study aimed to investigate the psychological well-being, and stress coping strategies, as well as their relationships, among healthcare students during prolonged COVID-19 pandemic. METHODS: An online questionnaire was used to assess psychological well-being (the Ryff Scale) and coping strategies (the brief Coping Orientation to Problems Experienced Inventory [COPE] Scale). COPE scores were categorized to identify the primary coping strategies: “approach” indicates more active coping strategies; “avoidant” indicates more dysfunctional and maladaptive mechanisms. RESULTS: A total of 202 valid questionnaire were collected. Those with lower academic confidence and lower self-rated peer and family relationship scores during the COVID-19 pandemic had lower Ryff scores, indicating poorer psychological well-being. Nursing students reported the lowest psychological well-being and the highest levels of adopting avoidant coping strategies (26.4%). CONCLUSION: The study's findings may help educators identify the healthcare students most vulnerable to stress and develop interventions to empower students to adopt problem-focused stress coping strategies.