COVID-19 pandemic stress and resilience in female college students: a multigroup comparative study of in-person versus online enrolments

ABSTRACT Objective College students, especially females, reported worsened mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic. This multigroup comparative study aimed to explore stress and resilience of female college students between in-person and online enrolments, as well as with and without mental health diagnoses, at early and later stages of the pandemic. Method Participants were 32 female undergraduate students (Mage = 23.75, SD = 6.13) from three classes – Spring 2020 in-person, Spring 2020 exclusively online, and Spring 2021 exclusively online enrolments – in a midwestern regional university in the U.S. They completed two surveys, four weeks apart between Times 1 and 2, quantitatively and qualitatively assessing perceived stressors, stress levels, and resilience. Frequency analyses, Wilcoxon signed-rank tests, and Mann-Whitney U tests were conducted by class. Results Overall, the most reported stressors in Time 1/Time2 were school (25.83%/26.36%), family (16.67%/18.33%), and lifestyle (16.67%/15.00%). On average, students with mental health diagnoses perceived more stressors, especially at the onset of the pandemic, than those without. Findings were presented and interpreted using cross-case analysis, suggesting that the pandemic stress and resilience depended upon students’ enrolment format and associated stressors. Conclusions This study offered practical implications for addressing student stressors during a crisis, across in-person and online enrolments, through targeted interventions. Key Points What is already known about this topic: College students increasingly reported elevated stress and mental health issues during the pandemic, negatively impacting females more than males. The transition from in-person to online education at the onset of the pandemic added stress to students’ lives. People with mental health diagnoses tend to have negative appraisals and lower levels of resilience to regulate stress than those without diagnoses. What this paper adds: This study implemented a case study approach to take a deeper look at female college students’ pandemic stressors and resilience to inform personalized interventions. Female students who enrolled exclusively online before the pandemic reported fewer school stressors but more family stressors during the pandemic than those who enrolled in person. Findings across all three classes suggest that the female students with mental health diagnoses perceived more stressors and higher stress levels than those without diagnoses across pandemic stages.