Coping with COVID-19 Pandemic: A Population-Based Study in Bangladesh

Abstract

This study aims to investigate coping strategies used by Bangladeshi citizens during the COVID-19 pandemic. Design: Prospective, cross-sectional survey of adults (N=2001) living in Bangladesh. Methods: Participants were interviewed for socio-demographic data and completed the Bengali translated Brief-COPE Inventory. Statistical data analysis was conducted using SPSS (Version 20). Results: Participants (N=2001), aged 18 to 86 years, were recruited from eight administrative divisions within Bangladesh (mean age 31.85, SD 14.2 years). Male to female participant ratio was 53.4% (n=1074) to 46.6% (n=927). Higher scores were reported for approach coping styles (29.83, SD 8.9), with lower scores reported for avoidant coping styles (20.83, SD 6.05). Humor coping scores were reported at 2.68, SD 1.3, and religion coping scores at 5.64, SD 1.8. Both men and women showed similar coping styles. Multivariate analysis found a significant relationship between the male gender and both humor and avoidant coping (p <.01). Male gender was found to be inversely related to both religion and approach coping (p<.01). Marital status and education were significantly related to all coping style domains (p<.01). The occupation was significantly related to approach coping (p <.01). Rural and urban locations differed significantly in participant coping styles (p <.01). Factor analysis revealed two cluster groups (Factor 1 and 2) comprised of unique combinations from all coping style domains. Conclusion: Participants in this study coped with the COVID-19 pandemic by utilizing a combination of coping strategies. Factor 1 revealed both avoidant and approach coping strategies and Factor 2 revealed a combination of humor and avoidant coping strategies. Overall, higher utilization of approach coping strategies was reported, which has previously been associated with better physical and mental health outcomes. Religion was found to be a coping strategy for all participants. Future research may focus on understanding resilience in vulnerable populations, including people with disabilities or with migrant or refugee status in Bangladesh.

Coping strategy among the women with metastatic breast cancer attending a palliative care unit of a tertiary care hospital of Bangladesh

“…The fourth part of the questionnaire contained the validated Bangla version of the 'Brief COPE inventory' which was used to assess the coping strategies of the study subjects [16]. It is a multidimensional measure and presents fourteen scales all assessing different coping dimensions.…”

Coping with COVID-19 Pandemic and Sustained Health Behavior: A Cross-Sectional Study in Bangladesh

“…The COVID-19 pandemic is a stressful circumstance that affects people’s lives and how people cope with the situation needs to be investigated. A study suggested that positive coping, e.g., maintaining emotion and avoiding stress, indicates positive health status but negative coping indicates negative attitudes towards health problems such as poor physical and psychological conditions [ 18 ]. Moreover, the WHO emphasized positive coping mechanisms as an effective approach to dealing with mental health problems under stressful events [ 19 ].…”

Health-related quality of life and coping strategies adopted by COVID-19 survivors: A nationwide cross-sectional study in Bangladesh

“…From the definition COPING is "Efforts to prevent or diminish threat, harm, and loss, or to reduce the distress that is often associated with those experiences" [17] which can be described as the broad terms "Approach-an issue is solved by controlling stress" and "Avoidant-a problem is solved by avoiding stress by reducing unpleasant emotions". Scholarly evidence shows that Approach Coping Strategy (APC) is more common in the Bangladeshi community than Avoidance Coping Strategy (AVC) [18]. To the best of our knowledge, there is a scarcity of empirical evidence concerning the effects of COVID-19 on coping and QoL among the patients recovering from this infectious disease.…”