Current psychological distress and coping strategies reported by university staff in reaction to the COVID-19 pandemic
- Authors: Sekese, Deneo Nande
- Date: 2023-10-13
- Subjects: Clinical health psychology , Salutogenesis , Distress (Psychology) , Adjustment (Psychology) , COVID-19 Pandemic, 2020- Influence , College teachers , Sense of coherence
- Language: English
- Type: Academic theses , Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/425045 , vital:72204
- Description: The COVID-19 pandemic and the subsequent disruptions brought about by the implementation of non-pharmaceutical interventions, provide an unfortunate but useful opportunity to explore employee wellness in response to a crisis, within the Higher Education context. COVID-19 lockdowns meant that university students could no longer access conventional learning through physical attendance at lectures. In response, university staff had to contend with a number of changes to their work environment. These included adapting teaching, learning, and assessment methods to an online platform, which led to changes in job roles, expectations, and increased workload for both academic and support staff. The focus of this research was to explore correlations between the current psychological distress that university employees are experiencing and their recalled coping strategies and sense of coherence in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. A mixed-method approach using a survey design was used. Surveys were completed by 171 university academic and support staff using the SA CORE-10 and BRIEF Cope, as well as qualitative questions. Results demonstrated that higher levels of current psychological distress correlated positively with avoidant coping strategies, particularly in academic staff as opposed to support staff, while more adaptive coping strategies tracked with a sense of coherence. , Thesis (MA) -- Faculty of Humanities, Psychology, 2023
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- Date Issued: 2023-10-13
The relationship between psychological capital and psychological well-being
- Authors: De Andrade, Ruaan Kriel
- Date: 2013
- Subjects: Organizational sociology -- Research , Clinical health psychology , Psychology -- Management -- Social aspects
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:9412 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/d1020096
- Description: A study of the available literature on Psychological WellQBeing and Positive Organisational Scholarship revealed that enormous potential existed for further research. This is a relatively new field with limited literature and research evidence available. It became very clear from the beginning that the relationships between these constructs could successfully be researched. It was therefore decided to embark on an academic research journey in order to contribute to the existing knowledge available on these constructs within the South African Private Healthcare Industry. This quantitative research was used to obtain more clarity about the relationships between the two constructs and to gather the responses from the research population. The research sample consisted of 152 nursing staff. Two questionnaires were integrated to develop the Nursing Psychological WellQBeing Questionnaire and consisted of i) PsyCap Questionnaire developed by Luthans, Youssef and Avolio2007, and ii) Psychological WellQBeing Questionnaire developed by Ryff 2000. A total of 152 nursing staff responded to an 87–item paperQbased questionnaire. Four research questions were formulated and covered the following: •The content, validity and portability of the measuring instruments; •The configuration of the various constructs; • Relationships between some of the variables . The content and the structure of the measuring instruments were assessed by means of Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) and) Exploratory Factor Analyses (EFA). These assessments showed that the original measuring instruments are not portable to a culture which is different to the one where they were originally developed. The relationship between dimensions of Psychological WellQBeing and PsyCap sense of achievement and optimism is a significant finding. The significance of the findings of this study and the contribution that it makes to the existing theory is seen in the importance of the portability of measuring instruments. Recommendations in this regard have been made in Chapter 5. Various findings have also highlighted the relationships between Psychological WellQBeing and PsyCap. The importance of future research topics has been recommended.
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- Date Issued: 2013