Международный журнал неотложной психической помощи и устойчивости человека

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Coping Mechanisms of Adolescents after Cancellation of School-Leaving Examinations during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Eeman Ahmad, Rabia Ahmad, Ahmad Saleem

COVID-19 is an ongoing pandemic which is responsible for concerns regarding its psychological impact. Most adolescents, in particular, have not been exposed to such a stressor before, and their mental health is of great interest as it is directly linked with the cancellation of their examinations as well. The results of school-leaving examinations, such as A Levels, are not only seen as an indicator of academic achievement, but are also a major factor in successful progression to tertiary education institutions. Students have reported to be under stress due to university admissions, and there is evidence that this correlates to negative coping strategies, including substance use. This study investigates the new stressor being introduced in students’ (n=184) lives: the cancellation of these exams, and the new methods being employed to assign and declare results for these qualifications. Various coping strategies were studied. It was encouraging to see that use of non-medical drugs was quite low overall (17.4% of total participants). Statistically significant relationships between denial and females (χ2=5.449, df=1, p<0.05), and between drugs of non-medical nature and males (χ2=10.302, df=1, p<0.05) were found. It was concluded that females were more likely to use denial as a coping mechanism, whereas males were more likely to resort to drugs. About half of the participants (48.4%) reported to be using religious coping. The results of this study help mental health professionals to see that pre-existing characterisation of various coping strategies with regards to sex of the individual may not be helpful, as a combination of the “socialisation hypothesis” and “role constraint hypothesis” was observed.