Coping with loneliness at University: a qualitative interview study with students in the UK

Publication date: Available online 29 November 2018Source: Mental Health & PreventionAuthor(s): Konstantina Vasileiou, Julie Barnett, Manuela Barreto, John Vines, Mark Atkinson, Kiel Long, Lyndsey Bakewell, Shaun Lawson, Michael WilsonAbstractLeaving home to attend University constitutes a transition that is often characterized by an increased risk of loneliness, a psychological state that predicts poor mental health outcomes. Informed by a comprehensive conceptual framework of coping with stress, this study sought to examine the coping strategies young adults deploy to manage experiences of loneliness whilst studying at University. A qualitative, cross-sectional study was designed. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 15 University students who had moved away from home to study, and who self-identified experiencing loneliness. We used directed qualitative content analysis to analyse the data both between and within participants. The results demonstrate that participants used a variety of coping strategies to manage the distressing experience of loneliness. Accommodation, mainly in the form of distraction, support-seeking, social isolation, self-reliance, and problem-solving behaviours were the most prevalent coping strategies mentioned. Coping reflecting helplessness, escape, submission, and more rarely, opposition, were also found, albeit less often. Students showed evidence of a wide-ranging coping repertoire, with the deployment of specific coping strategies pre...
Source: Mental Health and Prevention - Category: Psychiatry Source Type: research