COVID-19 and the Mental Health Crisis Faced by Students From a Private University in the Philippines: A Phenomenological Study

Abstract

The focus of this study was the students lived experiences and perspectives of the COVID-19 pandemic and its associated lockdowns. Although there is considerable quantitative evidence that the pandemic significantly strained the general population's mental health, qualitative attempts to explore the psychosocial determinants that could have moderated and mitigated its adverse effects are limited. Based on empirical phenomenological methods of inquiry, this study aimed to provide a more eidetic portrait of the lived experience of the pandemic-induced environment from the perspective of 36 first-year college students from a private university in the Philippines. A thematic analysis of their responses to the online structured written interview surfaced three strands that enabled them to cope, adapt, and even thrive: finding the family, finding faith, and finding meaning. The researchers recommend that youth ministers, positive psychology practitioners, and school guidance counselors enact and implement programs that can strengthen the supportive role of family and religion to enable the youth to respond well to the current pandemic and beyond.

Keywords

COVID-19 mental health family religious faith meaning-seeking Philippines subjective well-being

The COVID-19 pandemic and the prolonged quarantine measures created in its wake have inevitably strained the general population's mental health (Felsenstein & Hedrich, 2020; Xiong et al., 2020). Mental health refers to the state of well-being in which individuals realize their abilities, cope with the everyday stresses of life, work productively and fruitfully, and contribute to their community (World Health Organization, 2004). Keyes (2006) observed three components of mental health. The first is emotional well-being which includes happiness, interest in life, and satisfaction. Next is psychological well-being with the elements of liking most of one's personality, being good at managing the responsibilities of daily life, and being satisfied with one's own life. Finally, social well-being presupposes positive functioning and contributing to society, feeling part of a community, believing that society is becoming a better place for all people, and finding sense in how society works. However, sudden, multiple, and shifting risk factors to people's health and life with the continuous waves of COVID-19 and its variants harm these components (Danese & Smith, 2020; Rens et al., 2021; Santomauro et al., 2021; Xiang et al., 2020). In addition, studies showed that the pandemic's effect on global mental health did not affect people equally. Recent studies showed that the poor, the young, and women were more vulnerable than their counterparts (Green, 2020; Pavarini et al., 2020; Snape & Viner, 2020; Sritharan & Sritharan, 2020). Quite surprisingly, recent studies also found that, for some reasons, mental health deterioration was not inevitable and that the subjective well-being of some individuals even increased under COVID (Santini et al., 2021).

In the Philippines, the government's imposition of public health and social measures helped stem the virus contagion, which includes constantly evolving community quarantine protocols and the complete shift of education to online and remote learning. Its lockdown response has been described as one of the strictest and most controversial globally, raising concerns about its impact on people's mental health (Hapal, 2021; Rajkumar, 2020; Tenedero, 2021). An online assessment survey by the Department of Health (DOH, 2020) found that some 3.6m Filipinos suffered from any form of mental disorder amid the pandemic. This number includes students who, like their peers across the globe, found themselves socially isolated and untethered from their daily academic routines, triggering anxiety and uncertainty about the future (Alibudbud, 2021; Baticulon et al., 2021; Cleofas & Oducado, 2021). In addition to their pressing academic concerns, they had to contend with family responsibilities and cope with a personal fear of infection and death. Managing multiple problems contributes to young people's vulnerability to depression, anxiety, and stress symptoms amid the threats of pandemic lockdowns and restrictions (Orgilés et al., 2020; Tee et al., 2020; Tria, 2020).

Purpose of the Present Study

While youth mental health studies have examined how their mental health declined during the pandemic, the psychosocial determinants that could have moderated and mitigated their adverse effects were overlooked and understudied (Durosini et al., 2021; Pakenham et al., 2020). With this in view, the present study employs qualitative methods to amplify voices that were not heard or muted during the pandemic (Branquinho et al., 2020). It hopes to catalyze more effective and sustainable programs and activities to address the mental health issues of children and teenagers (Tuazon, 2021). Specifically, this article asked the participants to recall and articulate their responses to three questions: ◾

How was your day-to-day life during the pandemic-induced lockdown?

◾

What feelings did you have about the strict and extended lockdown?

◾

What helped you cope and adjust to the challenges of the pandemic?

These research questions also serve as critical reflection points for the participants, who may benefit from the adaptive meaning-making process involved in their narrative sharing (Fivush et al., 2017).

Method

Design

This study used the empirical phenomenological method as its research design (Giorgi & Giorgi, 2003, 2008). There are two descriptive levels of the empirical phenomenological method: Level 1, the original data comprises naïve descriptions obtained through open-ended questions and dialog. Level II, the researcher describes the structures of the experiences based on reflective analysis and interpretation of the research participant's account and eidetic understanding.

Participants and Study Site

A total of 36 college students enrolled in a comprehensive university in the Philippines were selected based on the inclusion criteria set for the study (at least 18 years of age and were enrolled at the time of the study). This kind of study usually uses a small sample size given that it focuses on depth rather than breadth, centering on exploring the experience of a particular phenomenon. It did not intend to achieve any empirical or statistical generalizability. Qualitative research like this is meant to generalize to theory (analytical generalization) by nuancing the informants’ experience and understanding of the pandemic lockdown.

Such an approach aims to develop empirically based concepts and theories that could be tested in similar studies. The 36 interview subjects for the study were based on phenomenological inquiry and data saturation criteria. The personal profile of the 36 participants is shown below.

Most participants are female, aged between 17 and 19, based in rural areas, and Roman Catholic. At the same time, a substantial number considered themselves religious, and few were not living with their families during the pandemic.

Table 1 shows the demographic profile of the interview subjects.

In-depth written interviews

We conducted a written interview via the university's Learning Management System with the selected participants from March 15 to 20, 2021. The researchers conducted online, and the chosen timeframe represents the middle of a school term. The online interviews proved beneficial as a feasible, nonintrusive, and safe way to conduct transformative service research during pandemic lockdowns (Dodds & Hess, 2020). The researcher drafted the interview questions based on the study's purpose, including questions about the subjects’ demographic profile and subjective experiences during the COVID-19 lockdown measures and how they managed to adjust well to its myriad of issues and challenges to subjective well-being.

Data Analysis

The thematic analysis followed the steps Giorgi and Giorgi (2003) proposed for a phenomenological study like this. First, the researcher dived into the texts to gain an in-depth and rich description of the observed phenomenon. After grasping a sense of the whole, the researcher returned to a subsequent reading and re-reading of the entire text. This step was followed by discriminating meaning units within a psychological perspective and focusing on the researched phenomenon. Next, the researcher identified “meaning units” or emerging themes from a psychological perspective. Then, we removed the redundancies and made sense of the meaning of the units. Then, the researcher transformed the subjects’ everyday expressions into psychological language, emphasizing the phenomenon being investigated, reflected on them, and produced the essence or themes of the experience for the subjects. Finally, the researcher synthesized all the statements and created a narrative account of the structure of the subjects’ lived experience of COVID-19 and its associated lockdown measures, which detailed and characterized the essence of the experience, including selected representative quotes from the participants.

For trustworthiness and fidelity to the data analysis, we conducted member checking by showing the initial findings to the participants, soliciting their feedback, and asking them to comment on how closely the researchers’ interpretation represented their views and experience. The comments gathered from the participants were then incorporated into the final findings and discussion.

Ethical Aspects

Participation in the study was voluntary, which was informed to the invitees. The researchers assured the participants of strict confidentiality and anonymity. Ethics approval for the study was given by the Research Ethics Committee of the Philippine Normal University (Number 011922022-005).

Findings

In this study, we explored the experience of college students during the pandemic lockdowns to understand the contributing factors that enabled them to mitigate and moderate the risks to their mental health. Given the subjective nature of their experiences, the study adopted the phenomenological approach because of its usefulness in discovering and unfolding the patterns of meanings created by the study subjects. The thematic analysis revealed a general psychological meaning structure that depicts the participants’ individual and collective experiences. The students described their pandemic journey as a condition of being “in dire straits.” The general description of this phenomenon is presented first, followed by a discussion of the three attendant elements that serve as mitigating factors (Von Essen & Englander, 2013). “P” denotes a sense of the whole or the general meaning structure, representing the participants’ collective experience of the pandemic environment.

The Whole Meaning Unit of the Pandemic Lockdown

P recalled that they were eagerly preparing and looking forward to the start of their college life before the pandemic suddenly struck. Before this unprecedented global disaster, P had imagined being on campus, going to classrooms, and making new friends. Instead of this familiar routine, P was thrust into what is potentially one of the most turbulent episodes in modern human life. As verbalized,

Before the pandemic, I had already set my mind to fulfilling my life's dreams and aspirations, but the tiny virus, without warning, upended all my plans. However, sadly, I was not able to do those. I woke up, went to school, finished schoolwork, slept, and repeated. This routine is what I have sworn by before COVID-19. It never crossed my mind that a one-week suspension would last a year or two. It is still a shock for me up to this day.

The sudden changes prompted by the COVID-19 pandemic significantly altered P's college blueprint. Different words and modifiers were offered to describe the experience, including “dire situation,” “desperate and grueling times,” “trying times,” “a terrible situation,” “life's battle,” and “storm.” These descriptions and metaphors demonstrate feelings of frustration and grief from the stressful pandemic environment. The excerpt below explains this sentiment.

Day by day, anxiety and pressure overcame me, making it doubly hard to stay focused on my academics. All I could think about was my family and relatives’ safety. Doubts plagued my mind, and I continued to agonize over the fact that I had wasted the last of my teen years and young adult life inside our home, feeling unmotivated and in a slump. I did nothing productive, and these doubts heightened recently because of the difficulties I experienced in my college degree. There was a time when I felt so empty and lonely. These narratives highlight the adverse impact of the pandemic situation on the mental well-being of college-age students. For this phenomenological analysis, we label this experience as ‘in dire straits.’ Tied to this meaning unit are three strands that the students experienced as mitigating or moderating factors that helped them adjust well to the dire situations induced by the pandemic, namely, finding the family, finding faith, and finding meaning strands of the COVID-19 pandemic phenomenon.

These narratives highlight the adverse impact of the pandemic situation on the mental well‐being of college‐age students. For this phenomenological analysis, we label this experience as “in dire straits.” Tied to this meaning unit are three strands that the students experienced as mitigating or moderating factors that helped them adjust well to the dire situations induced by the pandemic, namely, finding the family, finding faith, and finding meaning strands of the COVID-19 pandemic phenomenon.

“Finding the Family” Strand

The lockdown protocols mandated that all individuals remain inside their homes, except for a few essential outdoor activities moderated by quarantine rules. Although they found them initially disturbing, the respondents said that the lockdowns eventually proved to be a blessing in disguise for them. It gave them extra time to reconnect with family members and in the tender loving care of their parents and siblings. The excerpts below capture this view:

My family had good days and bad days. However, whatever day it may be, we gained a chance to grow with one another. We had earned an opportunity to improve ourselves and our relationship. Furthermore, the pandemic has also allowed us to live under the same roof again. It was a massive adjustment since I have lived in the city alone for the past few years. The lockdown coerced me to adjust to life with my family again, which was a struggle and a blessing concurrently.

However, most students also reported that during the initial stages of the lockdowns in March 2020, the safety and comfort of being at home gradually shifted to feelings of sadness and isolation. Regardless, their families, in time, played a crucial role in helping them manage the emotional struggle, as expressed in this statement:

This pandemic has been mentally tiring but spending more time with my family helps me cope. My time with family has been the most comforting prospect of my life.

While emotional support was one of the dominant side-effects of being inside the family, the students also reported the disadvantage of being confined to one place 24/7 with no resolution. In this confined state, they had to deal with continued isolation inside their homes, decreased mobility, and increasing rates of COVID-19 cases while fulfilling the demands of a virtual learning mode. The following excerpt captures these difficulties:

It was not easy at first because we were not used to the constant presence of each other. However, we slowly realized that the lockdown was a rare opportunity to strengthen our bonds since we all lived busy lives. Gradually, I got to know my siblings more—their likes and dislikes, and they got to know me. As a family, there were misunderstandings and challenges, and I am proud to say we overcame them all. We did not let those obstacles bring us down and destroy the solid foundation that our family has.

Summarily, and for purposes of describing how they were able to cope and adjust well to a very dire situation, we attribute the overall psychological well-being that the students experienced to finding the family strand of the phenomenon of COVID-19 and its associated lockdowns. We turn next to the second strand of the observed phenomenon.

“Finding the Faith” Strand

Besides family, another factor students identified as playing a vital role in their emotional management and well-being is their religious faith. They felt that praying allayed their nagging fears, eased the pain of isolation, and enabled them to stay calm and firm amid the rough situation. As expressed in the following words:

God gives me hope and strength so I can overcome all these. For instance, though my academics are exhausting, I find strength in my prayers and faith. I can finish the school year strong. My faith has become one of my energy-giver and decision-making sources. I could not survive this pandemic well without my faith.

While seen as a mitigating factor, faith in the context of the pandemic is associated with two views. On the one hand, some participants admitted that the pandemic significantly tested their faith and provoked them to question or doubt the benevolence of God. The excerpt below demonstrates this view.

This pandemic tested my faith. I still have many questions, and now, after a year, I ask myself, “Is God real? My faith has crumbled due to the pandemic. This pandemic challenged my faith and trust in God. For example, the front-liners who are sacrificing their health for us, does God love them? Why do they need to experience that? Why is life so unfair? Every night I ask: Why is this pandemic happening, and why did God allow this to happen?

On the other hand, gripped by fear and loneliness, most participants reported that their faith compelled them to pray. They believed that prayers enabled them to carry on with their lives and manage daily challenges. The except below expresses this sentiment:

This lockdown has taught me the importance of prayers. Moreover, I hold on to prayers when I lose everything I cling to in my life. As simple as praying sounds, it brings me so much comfort and hope. In this pandemic, finding our source of hope is significant to keep us going. As for me, prayers have been my comrade since the first day of this battle.

The two contrasting dispositions of doubt and trust anchored on the notion of God, who controls the circumstances, create a tension that reshapes the participants’ view of faith as not necessarily religious. The excerpt below captures this idea.

I did not feel strongly about religion in the first place, but during the pandemic, there were times when I thought, “Where is your God now?” I felt so much resentment; so many people were suffering and dying, and I could not see how praying could help the situation; if there was a God, how could he let so many innocent lives suffer like this? I do not think religion was an essential resource for me during this pandemic—instead, my faith in the world and the people around me boosted my spirit.

The view expressed above broadens the perspective of faith beyond God and emphasizes belief in the goodness of other people. This relational view of faith can be linked, as well, to the participants’ recognition of the role their family members played in strengthening their optimism and sense of hope. The excerpt below underscores the connection between family and faith.

My faith before the pandemic has been wavering. I have been confused and all. However, as I bonded with my family and talked to them about the things bothering me, my faith gradually returned or improved after my mom talked about trusting and reaching out to God. During tough times having hope and believing in a higher power could prevent one from falling into despair. The more time I spent with my family, the more I understood their faith; they kept their positivity and happiness by believing that better days would come because of God. That belief has prevented me from breaking down at particularly trying moments.

The preceding ability of the students to maintain their psychological well-being amid a dire situation can be attributed in this study to what is collectively called finding the faith strand of the phenomenon of COVID-19 and its associated lockdowns. The third and final strand is discussed next.

“Finding Meaning” Strand

While their families and religious faith enabled the students to cope, adjust, and even thrive amid the uncertainties and impermanence of their pandemic experience, they also engaged in the existential process of meaning-seeking and meaning-making. This coping and adjustment mechanism is characterized by the ability to see the bigger picture and make sense of its seeming irrational complexities. An exercise in this meaning construction is depicted in the following words:

The life lessons that the pandemic taught me were both humbling and inspiring. It changed our daily lives, and we have learned several values in life. It made me realize what my priorities are. Instead of being resentful about the current state of things, I realized I should do everything to improve my situation. I also learned that not loving yourself is the most selfish thing. Because of that, I started to care more for myself and give my body what it deserves.

Highlighted in this excerpt is the valuing of one's psychological well-being. The statement below also shows the recognition of one's worth, increased attentiveness to one's abilities and limitations, and a resolve to explore a better response to demanding situations.

This lockdown made me realize that my mental health is essential and that I should be strong. Instead of being resentful about the current state of things, I realized I should do everything to improve my situation. I discovered a lot about myself and my capabilities in these trying times. Moreover, this pandemic opened my mind to different social issues and taught me how to live.

These strikingly positive views are partly engendered by comparing their experience with those of other individuals, whom they see suffering even more than they do. For instance, they expressed concern and admiration for health workers who risk their own lives and their families daily to help improve the health situation of those infected by the virus. This recognition is supplemented by an expressed desire to help their way, such as through volunteer work. The excerpt below captures these sentiments.

The pandemic has made me realize and see the struggles of other people. I have learned to be more grateful for everything and always include others in my prayers. I only discovered some things about myself and my capabilities in these trying times. Moreover, this pandemic opened my mind to different social issues and taught me how to live.

Overall, the students’ enhanced skill to make sense of their pandemic situation that enables them, despite the challenging situation, to cope, adjust, and even thrive is collectively labeled as finding meaning strand. Table 2 shows the relationship of these strands, which analogically are like thin threads of something, often one of a few, twisted around each other to make a string or rope.

Table 1.

Demographic Profile of Participants (n = 36).

Profile	Frequency	%
Gender
Male	7	19.4
Female	29	80.6
Age
17	14	38.8
18	16	44.4
19	6	16.8
Place of residence
Urban	17	47.2
Rural	19	52.8
Religious affiliation
Roman Catholic	29	80.6
Others	7	19.4
Religiosity
Religious	28	77.8
Not religious	8	22.2
Family status during the pandemic
Living with family during the pandemic	31	86.1
Not living with family	5	13.9

Table 2.

Characterizations of the Students’ lived Experience of the Pandemic Lockdown.

The whole meaning unit of the pandemic lockdown: “In dire straits.”
Theme	Finding the family	Finding the faith	Finding meaning
Description	Pandemic as a threat and opportunity	Pandemic as a challenge to one's faith in God	A pandemic is an experience that is difficult to understand
Explanation	The pandemic is a challenge and an opportunity to bring the family closer	Pandemic as a question – How can a kind and powerful God allow such suffering?	Pandemics as a disordering of their lives
Lessons learned	Accept and adjust	Ask and pray	Think and feel good about themselves and others

Discussion

In this study, we explored the lived experiences of selected college students from a private university in the Philippines. Specifically, we focused on the factors that mitigated and moderated the harmful effects of the pandemic environment on their mental health. In the preceding discussion, the central themes or strands that emerged from the interview data are situated in current scholarship on psychology, particularly in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic and its associated lockdowns. The unique contributions and potential implications of the study are also highlighted.

The pandemic environment constituted clear and persistent risks to the student's mental health. The students did declare that the pandemic drained them of energy and motivation. There was a pervasive sense of loss and loneliness in its wake. The virus disrupted their lives, and the pandemic has been a significant source of trauma. Although they were open to new and expected academic experiences and challenges, online learning was a poor substitute for face-to-face classroom encounters. Many reported having to pick up additional responsibilities while studying online, such as taking care of younger siblings, doing household chores, and managing issues from high anxiety levels to difficulty concentrating.

This dominant theme of their frustration captured in the phrase “in dire straits” aligns with international studies that foreground the negative impact of the pandemic lockdown on students’ mental health (Gonzalez et al., 2020; Hawke et al., 2020 , 2021). They revealed that the lockdown engendered anxiety and distress aside from physical, social, and material implications on their well-being.

The students’ need to belong only increased their vulnerability and susceptibility to COVID-19's myriad challenges. Developmental psychologists observed that belonging is more pronounced for adolescents for whom peer group interaction is vital for personal growth. This observation explains why younger groups appear more vulnerable to belongingness issues than older groups (Santomauro et al., 2021). For college-age students, this life stage goal has been radically altered and challenged by reduced opportunities to engage in face-to-face interactions with their peer groups (Myers, 2020). The reduced sense of connectedness, in turn, affects their well-being (Thygesen et al., 2021). One study found that the younger age groups were more affected than the older age groups (Santomauro et al., 2021). Interestingly, social deprivation and decreased mobility in their development and mental health might have far-reaching consequences (Orben et al., 2020). For instance, it can exacerbate physical and mental health risks such as loneliness and depression.

The potential remedy to this critical challenge is the presence of other individuals whose company can minimize anxiety, stress, and fear. This social solution is immediately addressed by immediate families, who, in the context of the mandatory lockdowns, have become the captive social circle of the students. Spending time with their nuclear families has been associated with feelings of comfort and the cultivation of a more profound sense of familiarity and closeness. The notion of having stronger family ties in the context of the pandemic is a matter to be thankful for (Lee et al., 2020).

In the Philippine culture, the comfort of coping with pandemic-related challenges as a family unit is linguistically captured in the Filipino word for home, “tahanan.” Morphologically derived from the expression “Tahan na” [stop crying], the Philippine house is semantically constructed as a place where one's tears are dried, lamentations are heard and validated, and one's heartache is soothed. Based on this cultural conception, the family is a space where members mutually care for each other's mental health. However, whether this is the student's experience and their respective families are different.

Not surprisingly, the realities of family life entail struggles in managing differential personalities, priorities, and positions. As experienced by the participants, living more closely with their parents and siblings while attending to the demands of their online classes proved a critical challenge. In some cases, the situation may be more complicated, such as loss of jobs, reduced incomes, infections, and death of family members. Stress levels in these family scenarios are higher than in their counterparts (Orgiles et al., 2020). However, as validated by other studies, adjustment to the new family setup eventually leads to a better acceptance and response to the complex familial situation (Ahmed et al., 2020; Prime et al., 2020; Rudolph & Zacher, 2021).

In addition to family support, the participants strongly identified their religious faith as an anchor during their turbulent lockdown experience. This factor may have been emphasized by anxieties linked to loss of life, which has become a more palpable reality with the rise in COVID-19-related deaths. “Death anxiety” provokes varied adaptive responses, including turning to a religious faith that illuminates the meaning of life (Myers, 2020).

As noted in this study, students viewed their religious faith as a reliable source of comfort and strength. This finding is not surprising since documented longitudinal studies show Filipinos as among the most religious people globally, with 92% claiming that religion is vital in their lives (Tamir et al., 2020). This sense of religiousness is further triggered or heightened by stressful events. For instance, people tend to pray more to cope with adversity (Bentzen, 2021; Szałachowski & Tuszyńska-Bogucka, 2021). The act of prayer helped give them a sense of stability, getting back on their feet and restoring their confidence dampened by the multiple challenges brought about by the pandemic.

Another local survey found that more than half of the sample population (51.8%) declared they became more religious six months after the first lockdown (Cornelio, 2020). This finding confirms Durkheim's theory of religion as having a functional aspect, mainly that it performs a positive function for the psyche. As Durkheim et al., “The believer who has communicated with his God is not merely a man who sees new truths of which the unbeliever is ignorant; he is a stronger man. Participating in the faith cult brings peace, joy, serenity, and enthusiasm” (as cited in Aldridge, 2007).

This effect is validated by the experience of this study's participants, who claim that their religious faith helped ease their fears and anxieties in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic. This dominant view supports the notion that faith is a primary resource of Filipinos in times of crisis, as attested by the Veritas Truth Survey, where 89% of Filipino respondents identified faith as crucial in their fight against COVID-19 (Patinio, 2020). Similar studies also found that highly religious individuals suffered less distress and were less likely to see the pandemic as a crisis (Hart & Koenig, 2020; Ndaluka et al., 2021; Schnabel & Schieman, 2021).

The current study adds to this view the co-existence of two views linked to faith—one that questions God and one that expresses confidence in God. In other words, coping with the pandemic challenge “inside a religious faith” provided a space for the Filipino youth to question their trust in the benevolence of God (Hume, 1987; Kowalczyk et al., 2020) while also growing in their faith (Molteni et al., 2021). This duality of view mirrors the positive-cum-negative sense of belonging that being “inside a family” engendered in the participants. Taking these two mitigating factors together points to the third adaptive response, which emphasizes the youth's autonomy in “finding meaning.”

Seeking meaning in life is a fundamental human project. This basic need is sharpened in the face of emotionally charged events such as suffering, illness, and death, which invites a severe reflection on the meaning of one's life. This process is potentially different for those who (do not) identify with a religious faith (Barmania & Reiss, 2021; Morgan, 2020). Regardless of the lenses used to make sense of life and its circumstances, meaning-making is seen as mitigating distress and serving as a buffer against potentially adverse mental effects of a significant life-altering situation, such as a pandemic (Kapoor & Kaufman, 2020; Walsh, 2020).

The experience of this study's participants shows that the pandemic challenged their religious faith and global orienting system (Yang, 2020). How they see life is mediated by COVID-19-related stress and depressive symptoms (Arslan et al., 2020; Arslan & Yıldırım, 2021). Gradually, however, this view was altered so that the affordances of the situation became more visible or palpable to them. They began to see more, for instance, that the pandemic allowed them to spend more time with their families, discover more about themselves, and appreciate other things they once took for granted before the pandemic (Cleofas, 2021). Finding benefits from the highly stressful and threatening pandemic gave the students a sense of grounding, a kind of anchor to keep their sense of self and others steady (August & Dapkewicz, 2021; Efficiency, 2021; Helgeson et al., 2006; Tennen & Affleck, 2002). An essential index of this meaning finding recognizes the difficulty experienced by others that is potentially more challenging than their own experience. This shift in focus from the self to the other enlarges the narrative of the pandemic lockdown as not just a personal struggle but also a communal one, as a source of anxiety and distress and an opportunity for growth and learning.

This study highlights two social institutions’ roles in mitigating the pandemic's negative impact: family and religion. A family is a basic unit of care and support for distressed individuals. At the same time, religion offers a framework to make sense of threats to human existence, including separation, disease, and death. When mobilized together, these two institutions have the effect of lightening the mental burden of young people. This finding can potentially inform projects focused on addressing the heightened psychological needs of college-age students in the still-ongoing pandemic situation. In addition, in their work with children, teenagers, and their families, marriage and family therapists can use this study's findings to understand better how their client's family relations may affect their mental health. It also calls attention to the importance of bringing conversations on the religious and spiritual aspects of their clients’ lives into the therapy room.

Limitations of the Study

An important limitation of the study is the type of data gathered and analyzed. Self-reports through written interviews reflect self-desirability bias. Its accuracy is also shaped by recall bias, or the participants’ ability to precisely remember and recount their feelings related to past experiences (Thygesen et al., 2021). The restrictions of human memory and concerns about self-representation render this kind of data open to questions of reliability. At the same time, this limitation represents an opportunity for future studies to explore other alternative data types, such as observation of interactions and reflections or diary entries, to probe the nuances of participants’ experiences and perspectives.

Conclusion

Through empirical phenomenology, this study aimed to provide an in-depth understanding of the determinants that enabled a select group of college students to cope, adapt, and even thrive under the uncertainties and reduced social connections driven by the environment created by lockdowns, school closures, and economic loss. We identified one central theme and three strands based on a thematic content analysis of written interview data. The central theme depicts the dire situation the students found themselves in during the crucial early stage of the pandemic and related mandatory restrictions. The three strands reference the three determinants that enabled them to mitigate and moderate the adversities that could have otherwise taken a heavier toll on their mental health—finding the family, finding faith, and finding meaning. The three strands represent potential areas emphasized in mental health programs and advocacies directed to young people during and beyond the pandemic.

Footnotes

Acknowledgments

The author is grateful to the participants for the candid and generous sharing of their experiences and insights in this study.

Declaration of Conflicting Interests

The author declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Funding

The author received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

ORCID iD

Noel Asiones

References

Ahmed

Buheji

Fardan

S. M.

(2020). Re-emphasizing the future family role in the “care economy” due to COVID-19 pandemic spillovers. American Journal of Economics, 10(6), 332–338. https://doi.org/10.5923/j.economics.20201006.03

Aldridge

(2007). Religion in the contemporary world. Polity.

Alibudbud

(2021). Online learning and mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic: Perspectives from the Philippines. Asian Journal of Psychiatry. https://doi.org/https://dx.https://doi.org/10.1016%2Fj.ajp.2021.102867

Arslan

Yıldırım

(2021). Coronavirus stress, meaningful living, optimism, and depressive symptoms: A study of a moderated mediation model. Australian Journal of Psychology, 73(2), 113–124. https://doi.org/10.1080/00049530.2021.1882273

Arslan

Yıldırım

Karataş

(2020). Meaningful living to promote complete mental health among university students in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. Int J Mental Health Addiction. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11469-020-00416-8

August

Dapkewicz

(2021). Benefit finding in the COVID-19 pandemic: College students’ positive coping strategies. Journal of Positive School Psychology, 5(2), 73–86. https://doi.org/10.47602/jpsp.v5i2.245

Barmania

Reiss

M. J.

(2021). Health promotion perspectives on the COVID-19 pandemic: The importance of religion. Global Health Promotion, 28(1), 15–22. https://doi.org/10.1177%2F1757975920972992

Baticulon

R. E.

J. J.

Alberto

N. R. I.

Baron

M. B. C.

Mabulay

R. E. C.

Rizada

L. G. T.

Reyes

J. C. B.

(2021). Barriers to online learning in COVID-19: A national survey of medical students in the Philippines. Medical Science Educator, 31(2), 615–626. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40670-021-01231-z

Bentzen

J. S.

(2021). In a crisis, we pray for religiosity and the COVID-19 pandemic. Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, 192, 541–583. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jebo.2021.10.014

10.

Cleofas

J. V.

(2021). Filipino college students’ life interruptions, learnings, and hopes during the COVID-19 pandemic. Journal of Loss and Trauma, 26(6), 552–560. https://doi.org/10.1080/15325024.2020.1846443

11.

Cleofas

J. V.

Oducado

R. M. F.

(2021). Optimistic but tired of hearing about COVID: Optimism predictor of COVID-19 information and behavioral fatigue among Filipino youth. The Social Science Journal, 1–11. https://doi.org/10.1080/03623319.2021.1986300

12.

Cornelio

J. S.

(Rappler 10/10/2020). Are Filipinos more religious because of COVID-19? https://www.rappler.com/voices/thought-leaders/analysis-are-filipinos-more-religious-because-covid-19. Accessed May 27, 2020

13.

Danese

Smith

(2020). Debate: Recognizing and responding to the mental health needs of young people in the era of COVID-19. Child and Adolescent Mental Health, 25(3), 169–170. https://doi.org/10.1111/camh.12414

14.

Department of Health (October 10, 2020). “Your mind matters: DOH calls for a unified response to mental health.” https://doh.gov.ph/press-release/Your-mind-matters-DOH-calls-for-unified-response-to-mental-health. October 20, 2020

15.

Dodds

Hess

A. C.

(2020). Adapting research methodology during COVID-19: Lessons for transformative service research. Journal of Service Management. https://doi.org/10.1108/JOSM-05-2020-0153

16.

Durkheim

Swain

J. W.

(2008). The elementary forms of religious life. Courier Corporation.

17.

Durosini

Triberti

Savioni

Pravettoni

(2021). In the eye of a quiet storm: A critical incident study on the quarantine experience during the coronavirus pandemic. PloS one, 16(2), e0247121. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0247121

18.

Efficiency

(2021). The benefit of finding meaning in the pandemic. Oral Health.

19.

Felsenstein

Hedrich

C. M.

(2020). COVID-19 in children and young people. The Lancet Rheumatology, 2(9), e514–e516. https://doi.org/10.1016/S2665-9913(20)30212-5

20.

Fivush

Booker

J. A.

Graci

M. E.

(2017). Ongoing narrative meaning-making within events and across the life span. Imagination, Cognition, and Personality, 37(2), 127–152. https://doi.org/10.1177%2F0276236617733824

21.

Giorgi

A. P.

Giorgi

(2008). Phenomenological psychology. The SAGE Handbook of Qualitative Research in Psychology, 165–178. https://doi.org/10.4135/9781848607927.n10

22.

Giorgi

A. P.

Giorgi

B. M.

(2003). The descriptive phenomenological psychological method. https://psycnet.apa.org/doi/10.1037/10595-013

23.

Gonzalez

S. P.

Gardiner

Bausch

(2020). Youth and COVID-19: Impacts on jobs, education, rights, and mental well-being: survey report 2020. ILO, Geneva, 5. http://hdl.voced.edu.au/10707/549491

24.

Green

(2020). Risks to children and young people during the COVID-19 pandemic. BMJ, 369. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.m1669

25.

Hapal

(2021). The Philippines’ COVID-19 response: Securitizing the pandemic and disciplining the pasaway. Journal of Current Southeast Asian Affairs, 1868103421994261. https://doi.org/10.1177%2F1868103421994261

26.

Hart

C. W.

Koenig

H. G.

(2020). Religion and health during the COVID-19 pandemic. Journal of Religion and Health, 1, https://doi.org/https://dx.https://doi.org/10.1007%2Fs10943-020-01042-3

27.

Hawke

L. D.

Barbic

S. P.

Voineskos

Szatmari

Cleverley

Hayes

Henderson

J. L.

(2020). Impacts of COVID-19 on youth mental health, substance use, and well-being: A rapid survey of clinical and community samples. The Canadian Journal of Psychiatry, 65(10), 701–709. https://doi.org/10.1177%2F0706743720940562

28.

Hawke

L. D.

Monga

Korczak

Hayes

Relihan

Darnay

Henderson

(2021). Impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on mental health among youth with physical health challenges. Early Intervention in Psychiatry, 15(5), 1146–1153. https://doi.org/10.1111/eip.13052

29.

Hawkins

J. E.

(2018). The practical utility and suitability of email interviews in qualitative research. The Qualitative Report, 23(2), 493–501. https://digitalcommons.odu.edu/nursing_fac_pubs/24

30.

Helgeson

V. S.

Reynolds

K. A.

Tomich

P. L.

(2006). A meta-analytic review of benefit finding and growth. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 74(5), 797. https://doi.org/https://psycnet.apa.org/doi/10.1037/0022-006X.74.5.797

31.

Hume

(1987). The argument from evil. In Philosophy of Religion: An Anthology. 7th ed. 232–236.

32.

Kapoor

Kaufman

J. C.

(2020). Meaning-making through creativity during COVID-19. Frontiers in Psychology, 11, 3659. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.595990

33.

Keyes

C. L.

(2006). Mental health in adolescence: Is America's youth flourishing? American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 76(3), 395–402. https://doi.org/10.1037/0002-9432.76.3.395

34.

Kowalczyk

Roszkowski

Montane

Pawliszak

Tylkowski

Bajek

(2020). Religion and faith perception in a pandemic of COVID-19. Journal of Religion and Health, 59(6), 2671–2677. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10943-020-01088-3

35.

Lee

Chin

Sung

(2020). How has COVID-19 changed family life and well-being in Korea? Journal of Comparative Family Studies, 51(3–4), 301–313. https://doi.org/10.3138/jcfs.51.3-4.006

36.

Lewis Hall

M. E.

Hill

(2019). Meaning-making, suffering, and religion: A worldview conception. Mental Health, Religion & Culture, 22(5), 467–479. https://doi.org/10.1080/13674676.2019.1625037

37.

Molteni

Ladini

Biolcati

Chiesi

A. M.

Dotti Sani

G. M.

Guglielmi

Vezzoni

(2021). Searching for comfort in religion: Insecurity and religious behavior during the COVID-19 pandemic in Italy. European Societies, 23(sup1), S704–S720. https://doi.org/10.1080/14616696.2020.1836383

38.

Morgan

(2020). Why meaning-making matters: The case of the UK Government’s COVID-19 response. American Journal of Cultural Sociology, 8(3), 270–323. https://doi.org/10.1057/s41290-020-00121-y

39.

Morrow

Rodriguez

King

(2015). Colaizzi’s descriptive phenomenological method. The Psychologist, 28(8), 643–644. http://eprints.hud.ac.uk/id/eprint/26984/

40.

Myers

(March 20, 2020). Real-world social psychology under the coronavirus. https://www.macmillanlearning.co.uk/blog/post/Social-Psychology-Under-Coronavirus-David-Myers/ (2020) Accessed September 27, 2020

41.

Ndaluka

T. J.

Shagembe

Kinanda

Simon

(2021). Faith in the times of COVID-19: Integrating religion in the fight against COVID-19 in Tanzania. Folklore-Electronic Journal of Folklore, 82, 117–134. https://doi.org/10.7592/FEJF2021.82.tanzania

42.

Orben

Tomova

Blakemore

S. J.

(2020). The effects of social deprivation on adolescent development and mental health. The Lancet Child & Adolescent Health, 4(8), 634–640. https://doi.org/10.1016/S2352-4642(20)30186-3

43.

Orgilés

Morales

Delvecchio

Mazzeschi

Espada

J. P.

(2020). Immediate psychological effects of the COVID-19 quarantine in youth from Italy and Spain. Frontiers in Psychology, 11, 2986. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.579038

44.

O’Sullivan

Clark

McGrane

Rock

Burke

Boyle

Marshall

(2021). A qualitative study of child and adolescent mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic in Ireland. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 18(3), 1062. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18031062

45.

Ougrin

(2020). Debate: Emergency mental health presentations of young people during the COVID-19 lockdown. Child and Adolescent Mental Health, 25(3), 171. https://doi.org/https://dx.https://doi.org/10.1111%2Fcamh.12411

46.

Pakenham

K. I.

Landi

Boccolini

Furlani

Grandi

Tossani

(2020). The moderating roles of psychological flexibility and inflexibility on the mental health impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and lockdown in Italy. Journal of Contextual Behavioral Science, 17, 109–118. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcbs.2020.07.003

47.

Patinio

(2020). “Faith is vital in the fight against COVID.” https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1108913

48.

Pavarini

Lyreskog

Manku

Musesengwa

Singh

(2020). Debate: Promoting capabilities for young people's agency in the COVID-19 outbreak. Child and Adolescent Mental Health, 25(3), 187–188. https://doi.org/10.1111/camh.12409

49.

Prime

Wade

Browne

D. T.

(2020). Risk and resilience in family well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic. American Psychologist, 75(5), 631. https://doi.org/https://psycnet.apa.org/doi/10.1037/amp0000660

50.

Rajkumar

R. P.

(2020). COVID-19 and mental health: A review of the existing literature. Asian Journal of Psychiatry, 52, 102066. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ajp.2020.102066

51.

Rens

Smith

Nicaise

Lorant

Van den Broeck

(2021). A Belgian survey revealed mental distress and its contributing factors among young people during the first wave of COVID-19. Frontiers in Psychiatry, 12, 35. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2021.575553

52.

Rudolph

C. W.

Zacher

(2021). Family demands and satisfaction with family life during the COVID-19 pandemic. Couple and Family Psychology: Research and Practice. https://doi.org/https://psycnet.apa.org/doi/10.1037/cfp0000170

53.

Salmons

(2014). Qualitative online interviews: Strategies, design, and skills. Sage Publications.

54.

Santini

Z. I.

Thygesen

L. C.

Ekholm

(2021). Mental Health declined during the pandemic but some people with depression improved-new research. https://theconversation.com/mental-health-declined-during-the-pandemic-but-some-people-with-depression-improved-new-research-168772?utm_medium=ampemail&utm_source=email (Accessed January 28, 2022)

55.

Santomauro

D. F.

Herrera

A. M. M.

Shadid

Zheng

Ashbaugh

Pigott

D. M.

Ferrari

A. J.

(2021). Global prevalence and burden of depressive and anxiety disorders in 204 countries and territories in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Lancet, 398(10312), 1700–1712. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(21)02143-7

56.

Schnabel

Schieman

(2021). Religion protected mental health but constrained crisis response during crucial early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion. https://doi.org/10.1111/jssr.12720

57.

Schober

M. F.

(2018). The future of face-to-face interviewing. Quality Assurance in Education. https://doi.org/10.1108/QAE-06-2017-0033

58.

Snape

M. D.

Viner

R. M.

(2020). COVID-19 in children and young people. Science (New York, N.Y.), 370(6514), 286–288. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.abd6165

59.

Social Weather Station. Fourth Quarter Survey on Religion (2020). https://www.sws.org.ph/. August 8, 2021

60.

Sritharan

(2020). Emerging mental health issues from the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Journal of Health and Medical Sciences, 3(2), 157–162. https://doi.org/10.31014/aior.1994.03.02.109

61.

Szałachowski

R. R.

Tuszyńska-Bogucka

(2021). “Yes, in crisis, we pray." The role of prayer in coping with pandemic fears. Religions, 12(10), https://doi.org/10.3390/rel12100824

62.

Tamir

Connaughton

Salazar

A. M.

(2020). The global God divide. Diunduh dari https://www.Pewresearch.org/global/2020/07/20/the-global-god-divide.

63.

Tee

M. L.

Tee

C. A.

Anlacan

J. P.

Aligam

K. J. G.

Reyes

P. W. C.

Kuruchittham

R. C.

(2020). The psychological impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in the Philippines. Journal of Affective Disorders, 277, 379–391. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2020.08.043

64.

Tenedero

(2021, November 22). Ambiguous lockdown rules can make compliance difficult. https://www.languageonthemove.com/ambiguous-lockdown-rules-can-make-compliance-difficult/

65.

Tennen

Affleck

(2002). Benefit-finding and benefit-reminding. Handbook of Positive Psychology, 1(1), 584–597.

66.

Thygesen

L. C.

Møller

S. P.

Ersbøll

A. K.

Santini

Z. I.

Nielsen

M. B. D.

Grønbæk

M. K.

Ekholm

(2021). Decreasing mental well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic: A longitudinal study among danes before and during the pandemic. SSRN 3845383. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3845383

67.

Tria

J. Z.

(2020). The COVID-19 pandemic through the lens of education in the Philippines: The new normal. International Journal of Pedagogical Development and Lifelong Learning, 1(1), 2–4. https://doi.org/10.30935/ijpdll/8311

68.

Tuazon

A. C.

(Philippine Daily Inquirer 10/6/21). You cannot pick and choose with mental health. https://opinion.inquirer.net/?p=144936#ixzz78SeMCrB9. (October 6, 2021)

69.

Von Essen

Englander

(2013). Organic food as a healthy lifestyle: A phenomenological psychological analysis. International Journal of Qualitative Studies on Health and Well-Being, 8(1), 20559. https://doi.org/10.3402/qhw.v8i0.20559

70.

Walsh

(2020). Loss and resilience in COVID-19: Meaning-making, hope, and transcendence. Family Process, 59(3), 898–911. https://doi.org/10.1111/famp.12588. +

71.

World Health Organization (2004). Promoting mental health: Concepts, emerging evidence, practice: Summary report. World Health Organization. ISBN 92 4 159159 5 – (NLM classification: WM 31.5.

72.

Xiang

Zhang

Kuwahara

(2020). The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on children and adolescents’ lifestyle behavior is larger than expected. Progress in Cardiovascular Diseases, 63(4), 531. https://doi.org/https://dx.https://doi.org/10.1016%2Fj.pcad.2020.04.013

73.

Xiong

Lipsitz

Nasri

Lui

L. M.

Gill

Phan

McIntyre

R. S.

(2020). Impact of COVID-19 pandemic on mental health in the general population: A systematic review. Journal of affective disorders. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2020.08.001

74.

Yang

(2020). Resilience and meaning-making amid the COVID-19 epidemic in China. Journal of Humanistic Psychology, 60(5), 662–671. https://doi.org/10.1177%2F0022167820929215