COVID-19: Occupational disruption, occupational balance, anxiety level and adaptation strategies shared by graduate students
Event Type
Presentation
Start Date
12-1-2021 9:00 AM
End Date
12-1-2021 12:00 PM
Description
Introduction: COVID-19 led to a global pandemic and infiltrated many lives. Currently, literature fails to highlight the impact and severity of disruption in occupations due to unforeseen events and methods to maintain occupational balance among the graduate student population.
Purpose: The purpose of this study was to explore relationships among the constructs of occupational balance, occupational disruption, and anxiety as experienced by graduate students.
Methods: A mixed methods study design explored the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic among the previously mentioned constructs for a group of graduate students (N=57). Data was collected using 1) Scale of Occupational Disruption (SOD), 2) Coronavirus Anxiety Scale (CAS), and 3) Occupational Balance Questionnaire (OBQ 11). Analysis procedures were conducted using IBM SPSS 26 and a descriptive coding process recommended by Saldaña (2012).
Results: An inverse relationship was identified between occupational balance and occupational disruption, p=.037, suggesting higher levels of disruption were associated with lower levels of occupational balance. A significant positive correlation was revealed between participants’ rating of occupational disruption and the identified level of anxiety experienced, p=.004, indicating higher levels of disruption accompany higher levels of anxiety. The adaptation strategies shared by graduate studies resulted in three themes which lend credence to the occupational science framework of doing, being, becoming, and belonging proposed by Wilcock (1999).
Conclusion: Findings support the underpinnings which occupational science has built upon and add to the literature of the graduate student experience during the COVID-19 pandemic. Encouraging results using the SOD has prompted additional reliability projects in the future.
Recommended Citation
Carrasco, R. C., Trinidad, V., Fay, O. D., Namyak, A. M., Robinson, C., & Vish, N. G. (2021), COVID-19: Occupational disruption, occupational balance, anxiety level and adaptation strategies shared by graduate students, Presentation, Eighth Annual Research Colloquium, https://nsuworks.nova.edu/ot_colloquium/eighth/events/1
COVID-19: Occupational disruption, occupational balance, anxiety level and adaptation strategies shared by graduate students
Introduction: COVID-19 led to a global pandemic and infiltrated many lives. Currently, literature fails to highlight the impact and severity of disruption in occupations due to unforeseen events and methods to maintain occupational balance among the graduate student population.
Purpose: The purpose of this study was to explore relationships among the constructs of occupational balance, occupational disruption, and anxiety as experienced by graduate students.
Methods: A mixed methods study design explored the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic among the previously mentioned constructs for a group of graduate students (N=57). Data was collected using 1) Scale of Occupational Disruption (SOD), 2) Coronavirus Anxiety Scale (CAS), and 3) Occupational Balance Questionnaire (OBQ 11). Analysis procedures were conducted using IBM SPSS 26 and a descriptive coding process recommended by Saldaña (2012).
Results: An inverse relationship was identified between occupational balance and occupational disruption, p=.037, suggesting higher levels of disruption were associated with lower levels of occupational balance. A significant positive correlation was revealed between participants’ rating of occupational disruption and the identified level of anxiety experienced, p=.004, indicating higher levels of disruption accompany higher levels of anxiety. The adaptation strategies shared by graduate studies resulted in three themes which lend credence to the occupational science framework of doing, being, becoming, and belonging proposed by Wilcock (1999).
Conclusion: Findings support the underpinnings which occupational science has built upon and add to the literature of the graduate student experience during the COVID-19 pandemic. Encouraging results using the SOD has prompted additional reliability projects in the future.