Linkages between stress and stress coping strategies among Nepalese during COVID-19 lockdown: A nationwide cross- sectional study

AIM: With the increase in confirmed cases of COVID-19, the universities and colleges have been shut down posing uncertainty and unpredictability contributing to stress and increased morbidity of mental problems. Students are restricted from regular academic involvement, social interaction and are confined at home to reduce the transmission of the virus which in turn tends to provoke stressors and coping strategies. We aimed to assess the linkage between stress and coping strategies among youth students during COVID-19 lockdown. SUBJECT AND METHODS: Web-based cross-sectional study was conducted among 2520 university-level students of Nepal. Standard tools like Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) and Stress Coping Resources Inventory (SCRI) were used for collecting information. The final data was analyzed with the help of R-studio (version 1.2.5033). Univariate, bivariate, and multivariate statistics (polytomous logistic regression) were computed to find out the linkages between stress and stress coping strategies. RESULTS: The results show that students less than 23 years old, females, and living without parents were found to be more likely to have moderate to high levels of stress. The higher the stress level, the lesser was the possibility of practicing stress coping strategies. Active coping was the most preferred coping strategy while social ease was the least preferred. CONCLUSIONS: To conclude, Active coping was the most preferred coping strategy involving active information seeking, readiness to take charge of the disease-related situation along with the realization that such event is a result of chance while social ease was the least preferred strategy which suggests that the students prefer to seek help from their friends or relatives.