Sage Journals: Discover world-class research

Abstract

Project Title:

Psychosocial Reactions to a Global Pandemic: A Diary Study During COVID-19.

Design:

The study uses a mixed methods design that includes both a cross-sectional quantitative survey and qualitative diary entries submitted online eight times by student participants.

Context of Study:

The study timeline spans the full shutdown, phase 1 reopening, and phase 2 reopening of New Orleans Louisiana.

Objectives:

The study has three primary objectives: (1) To better understand the experiences of Social Work Students during the COVID-19 pandemic; (2) To explore risk and protective factors that influences Social Work Students’ ability to cope with stressors and changes associated with the COVID-19 pandemic; and (3) to track changes over time in coping among Social Work Students during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Study Population:

Current Master of Social Work (MSW) Students enrolled at Tulane University during the COVID-19 Pandemic will be invited to participate in this study.

Keywords

phenomenology virtual environments mixed methods methods in qualitative inquiry transcedental phenomenology

Background and Study Justification

Behavioral Health Impacts of COVID-19

The COVID-19 pandemic has created concern in otherwise healthy young adults about their own risk, and also the risk of spreading the virus to loved ones and friends (CDC, 2020a). Preventative efforts such as social distancing and subsequent isolation, can also lead to fear of missing out and loneliness, which can potentially place college students at increased risk for mental health concerns (Alt, 2015; CDC, 2020b; Saltzman et al., 2020). A COVID study from Changzhi Medical College revealed that approximately 30% of students reported mild to severe symptoms of anxiety, and that knowing someone infected, experiencing economic or academic problems, and changes in daily life resulted in increased symptoms of anxiety (Cao et al., 2020). This early study aligns with previous findings from the H1N1 pandemic, in which being a female students, personally having H1N1 influenza, or knowing someone infected was associated with poorer mental health outcomes (Xu et al., 2011). Importantly, these studies provide insight into the mental health of students in pandemics. Despite a handful of studies and some preliminary evidence, more research is needed to understand the myriad of COVID-19 effects.

Available research on past epidemics, supports the concerns regarding mental health during COVID-19 (Hansel et al., 2020). Following the SARS epidemic in 2003, being female and having increased work, family, and financial stressors were associated with worsened mental health (Lau et al., 2005). Mak and colleagues (2009) further suggested not only immediate but also longer-term consequences for mental health. Following H1N1, being sick, or having a family member who was sick, increased the likelihood of poorer mental health (Xu et al., 2011). as well as isolation and quarantine aspects (Sprang & Silman, 2013). In the more recent Ebola outbreak, heightened anxiety and fear were also common reactions (O’Leary et al., 2018). Previous research on front-line workers during pandemics suggests that there are also professional risks that relate to negative mental health outcomes and burnout (Adams et al., 2010; Lancee et al., 2008; Naushad et al., 2019; Reardon, 2015). Furthermore, research conducted with nursing students during H1N1 suggests that research about students in professional programs during health crises is warranted (Kang et al., 2012). While these studies provide insight to potential mental health needs, the relatively small literature base leads to many questions about the mental health of young adults, especially students in professional programs such as Social Work during COVID-19.

Landscape of Social Work Education and Practice During COVID-19

Social workers have an important role to play in the context of disaster and collective trauma; often both experiencing the event first-hand and serving communities as front line responders. This duality has been true for social work practice in the context of COVID-19. Social workers play an essential role not only in providing direct care to patients with COVID-19, but also to family members and other first responders. Social workers are also an integral part of helping individuals, families, and communities recover from the effects of mass unemployment, panic, anxiety, depression, and other mental health conditions resulting from isolation and loss of loved ones; even long after this crisis is over (Hall, 2007; NASW, 2020).

Social workers have several roles to play in the context of COVID-19; these range from advocacy to direct client care. For example, social workers are uniquely positioned to advocate and ensure that social services remain accessible and available to those in need (NASW, 2020). Similarly, social workers may work directly with clients to address issues that arise as COVID-19 continues; for example, identifying strategies to honor and remember the lives of those that have died while also following public health guidelines. Beyond the acute needs of the response phase, social workers also play an important role in the rebuilding efforts once COVID-19 has subsided to ensure equal opportunity and access to health care (NASW, 2020). Social work as a profession, is uniquely positioned to engage in all facets of recovery from COVID-19 because the profession focuses on the person in the environment, and specifically on the systems of policy that influence individual outcomes. As a result, social workers are seeing that vulnerable groups’ need are represented and advanced (NASW, 2020).

In order for social workers to continue to effectively respond to the needs of individuals, families, and communities, they must manage their own ability to cope with stressors and changes associated with the COVID-19 crisis. Social work students, along with students in other front line professional training programs (e.g. medicine and nursing) have been placed in an additionally unique position. Students are balancing being new in the field while continuing their field training (practicum) as an essential worker during COVID-19. This may be different from their same age peers who may not face the front line of the pandemic, and different again from more seasoned social work professionals who have had more experience with balancing their dual role as private citizens impacted by the crisis and as professionals responding to the crisis. Therefore, it is important to gain an understanding of the experiences, coping, and needs of social work students during this unprecedented time.

The current study design offers students a mechanism in which to openly process their thoughts and feelings and allowing them to reflect on their experiences. Research has found that journaling is an effective, self-reflection tool that can help people manage compassion satisfaction, burnout, trauma/compassion fatigue and other complex responses (Black et al., 2000; Boud, 2001; Daroszewski et al., 2004; Hubbs & Brand, 2005; Jamison et al., 2001; Lepore & Smyth, 2002). We anticipated that the diary entry model utilized in this study would have similar benefits to participants.

Technology and Disaster Research

Technology is omnipresent in our daily lives to manage schedules, track purchases, entertain ourselves, and navigate our world. Over the past 20 plus years, researchers have increasingly incorporated technology into scientific research. Field research was one of the first areas to use internet and mobile devices for data collection. Deploying web and mobile based data collection processes to assess the impact of behavioral, cognitive, and biological variables over time are key to understanding individual experiences pre, during, and post disaster. To date, behavioral and health science research has benefitted from the use of these web-based systems which can be accessed on desktops and mobile devices (phones, tablets, watches) to collect online interviews, behavioral and biological data in real-time or in acute intervals remotely (see Taj et al., 2019, for review). Web-based and mobile data collection systems are being proposed to assess rapidly developing events, such as the current COVID-19 pandemic (Drew et al., 2020). Recently, researchers have successfully used web-based surveys to assess anxiety, depression, and sleep during the COVID-19 Pandemic (Huang & Zhao, 2020). Archibald and colleagues (2019) successfully tested the feasibility of Zoom™ (Zoom Video Communications Inc, 2020) as a data collection tool. In this study, a sample of nurses indicated that Zoom™ (Zoom Video Communications Inc, 2020) was convenient, had minimal technological issues, and also allowed for rapport with the research team (Archibald et al., 2019). Researchers concluded that Zoom™ (Zoom Video Communications Inc, 2020) is an appropriate tool for collecting qualitative interview data when compared to other VOIP platforms (Archibald et al., 2019). Gray and colleagues (2020) describe a process for using Zoom™ (Zoom Video Communications Inc, 2020) as a tool for conducting qualitative interviews, and specifically focused on using the platform to facilitate high quality interviews when meeting in person was not feasible. This is particularly relevant during health crises as in person interviewing may not be available. For qualitative research, Zoom™ (Zoom Video Communications Inc, 2020) offers a feasible solution which is cost-effective, confidential, allows for both audio and video data collection, and is high accessibility (Gray et al., 2020). In the context of the current study, Zoom™ is easily accessible to students as it is provided free of charge to each student at the University to access their courses as they move online in response to COVID-19.

In keeping with previous literature, we propose that web and mobile device based technologies used for assessing the impact of disasters will offer innumerable benefits. These can be summarized as follows: 1) improved safety of researchers and participants, 2) allow rapid collection of data in real time, 3) potentially decrease errors with autobiographical memory, 4) allow participants various ways to input data (via traditional keyboard, text to speech, and uploading of text or media files), 5) collection of both quantitative and qualitative data, and 6) can be rapidly implemented. All of the above cited benefits will allow for real-time data-based decisions to be implemented as well as offer long-term solutions to decrease the negative impacts of disasters on health and behavioral health. While the use of technology is appropriate in the context of the current study (i.e. all students have access to technology to complete their studies at the University), it is important to note that access to technology may not be equitable in all communities and therefore may bias research that does not address this issue.

Current Study

The current study will rely on a mixed method approach; pairing a baseline quantitative survey with a virtual diary to help students process the ongoing changes to both their personal and professional lives during the COVID-19 pandemic. The quantitative survey data will be paired with emerging themes identified by the phenomenological approach to offer additional insights into the impact of COVID-19 on the student participants.

The study will use a phenomenological approach to analyzing the virtual diary entries in order to capture the lived experiences of MSW students during COVID-19. Previous diary studies have utilized the longitudinal phenomenological approach for social and health research, that has explored health professionals, patients, and students experiences with a given phenomena (Bedwell et al., 2015; Ganeson & Ehrich, 2009; Woll, 2013). In line with this approach the current study will employ a longitudinal phenomenological approach to the data collected in the virtual diaries, as it allows researchers to collect data from participants over multiple time points (six to eight diary entries) to understand the changes and lived experience of social work students in regard to the phenomenon of the COVID-19 global pandemic (McKoy, 2017).

There are two major schools of phenomenology, known as the hermeneutic and transcendental approaches, which incorporate different philosophical and methodological traditions. The transcendental approach focusses on describing the “essence” of participants’ experiences (Cresswell & Poth, 2018), whereas the hermeneutic approach goes a step further in incorporating the researchers interpretation and meaning of the data (Neubauer et al., 2019). Due to the timely nature of the study and the need to understand our social work students lived experiences of the pandemic, a transcendental approach will be used. Further, the transcendental approach ensures that the experiences of the phenomenon are relayed through the voice of the participants, and not through the biases of the researchers, which is consistent with the goal of the present study (Moerer-Urdahl & Cresswell, 2004).

The study will include the following three primary objectives: (1) to understand the essence of Social Work Students lived experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic; (2) to explore risk and protective factors that influences Social Work Students’ ability to cope with stressors and changes associated with the COVID-19 pandemic; and (3) to track the changes over time in coping among Social Work Students during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Explanation of Method

Study Period

Students will be asked complete a brief online survey and will then be invited to upload video diary entries for 8 weeks. This time frame allows the researchers to capture changes in daily life as States begin phased reopening.

Selection of Participants, Sampling, and Recruitment

Study participants will be recruited from the pool of Master of Social Work Students enrolled at Tulane University. In order to participate, students must be: (1) 18 years of age or older, (2) comfortable answering questions and uploading video entries in English; and (3) have access to the technological platforms used in the study (i.e. Qualtrics and Zoom™). Students will be recruited via the student list-serve, internal School newsletters, and via faculty in the School of Social Work. In total, we anticipate needing approximately 15 students to complete the study and reach data saturation. Previous phenomenological studies suggest a sample size of at least 12 to reach data saturation for thematic analysis (Braun & Clarke, 2013; Vasileiou et al., 2018).

Procedure

Participants will receive a link for a Qualtrics survey via the recruitment materials. Participants will view a welcome letter and consent script and give consent to participate virtually via the online survey. Screening questions based on the criteria outlined above, will be asked and will employ a skip-logic to ensure only eligible participants complete the survey. Eligible participants who consent to participate will then complete a brief survey which will include a measure of generalized anxiety (GAD-7; Spitzer et al., 2006) substance abuse screening (CAGE; Ewing, 1984) household food security (USDA, 2012) a scale of social interdependence (Gerpott et al., 2018) as well as basic demographic information.

Participants will provide their email address and rank three time slots for their diary entry sessions. Once the research team receives the survey responses, they will schedule eight Zoom™ meetings (recurring invite for one session per week for 8 weeks) during which respondents will log into Zoom™ and record their video diary entries. Participants will be given the option to turn the video function off (i.e. audio only) or to type their entry in the chat function of Zoom™ if they prefer to write their response instead of recording their voices. Zoom™ will be used because all students have access to the platform for online learning through Tulane University. In addition, the platform allows sessions to be automatically recorded and transcribed.

Participants will receive the following prompts to frame their diary entry each week: (1) One a scale of 1–10 where 10 is the best you have ever been and 1 is the worst you have ever been, what number would you rate yourself today and why? (2) Describe what life has been like this week; (3) What changes (either positive or negative) have you made since last week as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic?; (4) What about these changes has been easy to cope with?; (5) what about these changes has been difficult to cope with?; (6) What is one thing that would help you cope better? And (7) is there anything else you want us to know about life during the COVID-19 pandemic? These prompts will be finalized by the research team, each member of the team will propose two to three prompts, the team will discuss all proposed prompts and identify areas of overlap to consolidate and reduce the number of prompts. The final prompts can then be shared with student members of the research team to ensure they capture the experiences of the student body.

Data Handling and Analysis

Quantitative data

The quantitative survey will include questions in the following areas: (1) demographics; (2) prior exposure to trauma; (3) direct impacts of COVID-19 (e.g. loss of employment, social isolation, children being out of school etc.); (4) a scale of social interdependence (Gerpott et al., 2018) (5) generalized anxiety (GAD-7; Spitzer et al., 2006) (6) food security (adapted from USDA, 2012) and (7) substance abuse screening (CAGE; Ewing, 1984) This survey will be administered once participants enroll into the study. Given the relatively small sample size, descriptive analysis of these data will be used to supplement and further elucidate the themes that emerge in the longitudinal phenomenological data from the virtual diary entries.

Qualitative data

A qualitative longitudinal research design is considered useful for studies that investigate changes and adaptations to traumatic and historic events (such as the global pandemic), as well as pathways and transitions over time (Holland et al., 2006). Studies utilizing longitudinal mixed methods design can be categorized into three models (Plano Clark et al., 2015; Van Ness et al., 2011). The first, prospective describes studies that utilize qualitative data at first time point and quantitative only for all remaining time points. The second, retrospective, utilizes quantitative data throughout with a single qualitative entry at the final time point. Finally, fully longitudinal, which includes both qualitative and quantitative at every time point (Plano Clark et al., 2015; Van Ness et al., 2011). Our approach will follow a fourth model, that utilizes quantitative data at the first time point and qualitative only for all remaining time points.

To ensure the accuracy of the participant responses, transcripts will be checked with the original recording by the research team during the cleaning process. Zoom automatically transcribes recorded sessions, these transcriptions occasionally are incomplete or have errors. If participants opt to record with video and/or audio; video and audio files will used to ensure accuracy and make any corrections to the transcripts automatically produced by Zoom. If participants, opt to only enter text in the chat function, their words will be used without edits from the research team. Survey responses, video, audio, and transcript files will then be uploaded into Dedoose; a web-based qualitative data analysis software that also supports mixed methods research. The research team will meet weekly to review and analyze the transcripts as they are uploaded, starting from the participant’s first transcript, and moving forward through each weekly diary entry.

Phenomenology is considered rigorous and employs systematic steps that researchers must engage in during the qualitative analysis (Cresswell & Poth, 2018; Moustakas, 1994; Moerer-Urdahl & Cresswell, 2004). A feature of this approach is to engage in epoche, or also known as bracketing, where the research team acknowledged and placed their own experiences and views of the phenomenon aside, in order to start with a fresh perspective when analyzing the participants data (Moustakas, 1994; Moerer-Urdahl & Cresswell, 2004). In this study, each member of the research team will be impacted in some way by the global pandemic, and several members of the research team are experts in the field of disasters and communicable diseases. However, the ability to put aside these previous experiences, knowledge, and assumptions of the phenomenon will be crucial in order for the researchers to approach the analysis with a blank state (tabula rasa), so that the true essence and lived experiences of the students is able to be captured and described (Neubauer et al., 2019). To accomplish this the research team will engage in reflexivity where each member reflects on their own experiences regarding the research study and the global pandemic. The research team members will write their thoughts in a journal and will engage in peer dialogue in weekly team meetings throughout the entire research study (Lietz & Zayas, 2010).

The next stage of the analysis process is horizontalization, in which a team of three researchers will go through each diary transcript as it is uploaded weekly in Dedoose and highlight passages, sentences, quotes, and phrases that are considered “significant statements” in describing the participants experience of the global pandemic (Cresswell & Poth, 2018). These statements will be taken verbatim from the transcript and will allow the researchers to gain an initial sense of how students describe their experiences (Moustakas, 1994). The research team will meet weekly to discuss significant statements that are identified in the transcripts and discuss any pre-codes or themes that may be emerging for participants over time (Saldana, 2009). After analyzing the identified statements again, any statements that is considered unrelated to the goal of the research study will be eliminated, a process known as phenomenological reduction (Moustakas, 1994; Moerer-Urdahl & Cresswell, 2004). The research team will work collaboratively to organize these statements and associated codes in Dedoose; and to identify those that clustered together in meaning (Moustakas, 1994; Moerer-Urdahl & Cresswell, 2004). Due to the emergent nature of qualitative research, the codes and themes are expected to change over time as more transcripts are collected and analyzed, thus the codebook will be continuously revised.

The research team will develop both textual and structural descriptions of the significant statements that refer to the “what” and “how” of the experienced phenomenon (Cressewell & Poth, 2018; Moerer-Urdahl & Cresswell, 2004). For example, students will be asked to describe their feelings and experiences during the pandemic (textual), and how they experience the phenomenon, in terms of context or conditions (structural) (Cresswell & Poth, 2018). The synthesis of both the textual and structural descriptions will allow the research team to portray the true “essence” of the participant experience of the phenomenon, as demonstrated by the themes that emerged (Cresswell & Poth, 2018).

Trustworthiness

In order to achieve trustworthiness of the study, the research team will refer to Lincoln and Guba’s (1985) four concepts: credibility, transferability, auditability, and confirmability. In order to achieve credibility, the researchers will attempt to minimize research reactivity and bias by opting for a data collection method in which participants are alone (i.e. during their Zoom™ diary session) and are able to provide their entry and discuss their experiences of the global pandemic without the presence or influence of the researcher (Lietz & Zayas, 2010). To further establish credibility, at least three research team members will be involved in the analysis process, thus engaging in triangulation (Lietz & Zayas, 2010). In terms of transferability, the findings will have applicability to other students in the university’s social work program, and potentially to other professional programs that are similar social work and that are continuing their curriculum online during the pandemic. Thick descriptions (detailed definitions of codes and themes) will be available to readers, so that they can fully determine the applicability of our findings to their own situation (Lietz & Zayas, 2010; Shenton, 2004). To increase auditability (dependability), an audit trail of the research process will be kept by the Principal Investigator that outlines the changes that are made throughout the research process, and is available if a future researcher wishes to replicate the study in their own context (Lietz & Zayas, 2010; Shenton, 2004). Lastly, confirmability aims to ensure that the study findings are truly the experiences of the participants and not influenced by the researchers, where the previous mentioned strategies of an audit trail and engaging in reflexivity will help to achieve this necessary concept (Lietz & Zayas, 2010).

Safety and Ethical Aspects

Additional procedures will be put in place to ensure the comfort and safety of participants. Firstly, given the study sample included current students, if a member of the research team can identify a participant, and the member of the research team is a current instructor for a course (i.e. giving grades to a student) that the participant is enrolled in, they will not review the transcript or recorded sessions until data was anonymized. This will require each member of the research team that is assigning grades to students to present a list of current students to the PI (a non-teaching faculty member). The PI will cross referenced the list of current students with the list of study participants. If a conflict occurs, the team member will be asked to leave the room when the participant’s audio/video files are screened. Once transcription is completed, all documents will be anonymized by the PI. The research team will only code the anonymous transcripts.

Acknowledging the difficult circumstances and anticipating a certain degree of psychological distress surrounding the circumstances of COVID-19, the research team also will screen all diary entries one time a week for disclosures of abuse/neglect, suicidal ideation, or homicidal intent. All content that is uploaded by the participant (i.e. chat, audio, and video if applicable) will be included in this screening process. If the submission content includes said disclosures, other members of the research team will be consulted and additional actions taken to comply with research protocol, university policies, and mandatory reporting law. In addition, if video files are uploaded by the participant, these will be screened to detect visible signs of distress (e.g. crying). Based on the type of disclosure, additional actions may include submitting a health and safety wellness report per University policy and/or contacting the police for a welfare check. Participants will be reminded that taking part in the study is voluntary and that they may withdraw from the study at any time without negative consequence.

Discussion

This study presents the perspective of social work students who are poised to provide mental health supports to communities impacted by COVID-19 and other disasters. In addition, the study proposes an innovative mixed methods approach to collecting data in a completely virtual forum that can be utilized during ongoing disasters and collective traumas. Despite this innovation, an important limitation to consider is the small sample size for the quantitative data survey. Future studies may consider re-surveying participants over time to (1) increase statistical power; (2) account for change in psychosocial elements over time; and (3) match changes measured by the quantitative data toward the end of the study with changes in the thematic analysis of the qualitative interviews. Despite this limitation, the number of diary session uploads will provide a greater number of data points to include in our analysis; a possible 120 observations (15 participants × 8 diary sessions) and the qualitative themes will capture changes over time.

This longitudinal approach, while beneficial in generating a greater number of observations, also poses challenges to the internal validty of the study; specifically the threat of history. The COVID-19 pandemic coincides with historical events of great significance, most specifically those regarding racial inequalities and deaths of African Americans by law enforcement officers. Participants may note these events as current stressors in their lives, thereby influencing the diary entries over the course of the 8 weeks.

While capturing the co-occurrence of multiple stressors was not the original intention of the study, the COVID-19 pandemic while ongoing, does not put a hold on other social problems. Existing health disparities (Bailey et al., 2017), racism (Aymer, 2016), and xenophobia (Mamun & Griffiths, 2020), which can intensify COVID related stress, trigger re-traumatization, and decrease overall well-being. While the current study is focused on COVID-19, question 7 asks participants about life during COVID and may illuminate the many other social injustices faced directly or indirectly by students. The qualitative nature of the current study offers an opportunity to capture the experience of multiple stressors among students as the complexity of their environment unfolds. As a result, the research team will not pause data collection, or control for the potential influence of these events as we feel it represents the true lived experience of participants during the course of the pandemic in the United States.

Despite these limitation, the findings of this study will contribute to emerging literature on the psychological impacts of COVID-19. While additional research is needed to fully understand the impacts of COVID-19 on mental health, student outcomes, and the unique impacts on social work professionals; this study will provide real time data about the lived experience of a group of social work students during the COVID-19 pandemic.

In addition, the study will test a longitudinal mixed methods approach to virtual data collection during an ongoing crisis. This is a critical step to advancing the disaster research field. The ability to rapidly launch studies in the earlys of a disaster enables us to better understand the psychological impacts in real time. Lastly, identifying a method that combines both quantitative and qualitative data longitudinally as a disaster unfolds is paramount to better understanding the needs of survivors throughout the disaster management cycle.

Footnotes

Declaration of Conflicting Interests

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

Funding

The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: The author(s) wish to acknowledge the support of Tulane University in supporting open access publishing.

ORCID iD

L. Y. Saltzman

References

Adams

R. E.

Boscarino

J. A.

Figley

C. R.

(2010). Compassion fatigue and psychological distress among social workers: A validation study. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 76(1), 103–108. https://doi.org/10.1037/0002-9432.76.1.103

Alt

(2015). College students’ academic motivation, media engagement and fear of missing out. Computers in Human Behavior, 49, 111–119. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ajp.2020.102073

Archibald

M. M.

Ambagtsheer

R. C.

Casey

M. G.

Lawless

(2019). Using zoom videoconferencing for qualitative data collection: Perceptions and experiences of researchers and participants. International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 18, 1–8. https://doi.org/10.1177%2F1609406919874596

Aymer

S. R.

(2016). “I can’t breathe”: A case study—Helping Black men cope with race-related trauma stemming from police killing and brutality. Journal of Human Behavior in the Social Environment, 26(3-4), 367–376. https://doi.org/10.1080/10911359.2015.1132828

Bailey

Z. D.

Krieger

Agénor

Graves

Linos

Bassett

M. T.

(2017). Structural racism and health inequities in the USA: Evidence and interventions. The Lancet, 389(10077), 1453–1463. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(17)30569-X

Bedwell

McGowan

Lavender

D. T.

(2015). Factors affecting midwives’ confidence in intrapartum care: A phenomenological study. Midwifery, 31(1), 170–176.

Black

R. S.

Sileo

T. W.

Prater

M. A.

(2000). Learning journals, self-reflection, and university students’ changing perceptions. Action in Teacher Education, 21, 71–89.

Boud

(2001). Using journal writing to enhance reflective practice. New Directions for Adult and Continuing Education, 90, 9–17. https://doi.org/10.1177/074171365900900205

Braun

Clarke

(2013). Successful qualitative research: A practical guide for beginners. London: Sage.

10.

Cao

Fang

Hou

Han

Dong

Zheng

(2020). The psychological impact of the COVID-19 epidemic on college students in China. Psychiatry Research, 257, 112934.

11.

Center for Disease Control and Prevention. (2020a). People who are at higher risk for severe illness. https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/need-extra-precautions/people-at-higher-risk.html

12.

Center for Disease Control and Prevention. (2020b). Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19): How to protect yourself. Retrieved on April 1, 2020, from https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/prevent-getting-sick/prevention.html?CDC_AA_refVal=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cdc.gov%2Fcoronavirus%2F2019-ncov%2Fprepare%2Fprevention.html

13.

Creswell

J. W.

Poth

C. N.

(2018). Qualitative inquiry and research design: Choosing among five approaches (4th ed.). Sage.

14.

Daroszewski

E. B.

Kinser

A. G.

Lloyd

S. L.

(2004). Online, directed journaling in community health advanced practice nursing clinical education. Journal of Nursing Education, 43, 175–180.

15.

Drew

D. A.

Nguyen

L. H.

Stteves

C. J.

Menni

Freydin

Varsavsky

Sudre

C. H.

Cardoso

M. J.

Ourselin

Wolf

Spector

T. D.

Chan

A. T.

, &COPE Consortium. (2020). Rapid implementation of mobile technology for real-time epidemiology of COVID-19. Science, 368, 1362–1367. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.abc0473

16.

Ewing

J. A.

(1984). Detecting alcoholism: The CAGE questionnaire. JAMA: Journal of the American Medical Association, 252, 1905–1907. https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.252.14.1905

17.

Ganeson

Ehrich

L. C.

(2009). Transition into high school: A phenomenological study. Education Philosophy and Theory, 41(1), 60–78.

18.

Gerpott

F. H.

Balliet

R. E.

Columbus

Molho

de Vries

(2018). How do people think about interdependence? A multidimensional model of subjective outcome interdependence. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 115(4), 716–742. https://doi.org/10.1037/pspp0000166

19.

Gray

L. M.

Wong-Wylie

Rempel

G. R.

Cook

(2020). Expanding qualitative research interviewing strategies: Zoom video communications. The Qualitative Report, 25(5), 1292–1301. https://nsuworks.nova.edu/tqr/vol25/iss5/9

20.

Hall

(2007). We care don’t we? Social workers, the profession and HIV/AIDS. Social Work in Health Care, 44(1–2), 55–72. https://doi.org/10.1300/J010v44n01_06

21.

Hansel

T. C.

Saltzman

L. Y.

Bordnick

P. S.

(2020). Behavioral health and response for COVID-19. Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness. https://doi.org/10.1017/dmp.2020.180

22.

Holland

Thompson

Henderson

(2006). Qualitative longitudinal research: A discussion paper. Families and Social Capital ESRC Research Group.

23.

Huang

Zhao

(2020). Generalized anxiety disorder, depressive symptoms and sleep quality during COVID-19 outbreak in China: A web-based cross-sectional survey. Psychiatry Research, 288, 1–6. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychres.2020.112954

24.

Hubbs

D. L.

Brand

C. F.

(2005). The paper mirror: Understanding reflective journaling. Journal of Experiential Education, 28, 60–71. https://doi.org/10.1177/105382590502800107

25.

Jamison

R. N.

Raymond

S. A.

Levine

J. G.

Slawsby

E. A.

Nedeljkovic

S. S.

Katz

N. P.

(2001). Electronic diaries for monitoring chronic pain: 1-year validation study. Pain, 91, 277–285.

26.

Kang

H. S.

Chae

S. M.

Hyun

M. S.

Singh-Carlson

(2012). Nursing students experiences of exposure to pandemic influenza A (H1N1). Journal of Nursing Education and Practice, 2(2), 63–70. http://dx.doi.org/10.5430/jnep.v2n2p63

27.

Lancee

W. J.

Maunder

R. G.

Goldbloom

D. S.

(2008). Prevalence of psychiatric disorders among Toronto hospital workers one to two years after the SARS outbreak. Psychiatric Service, 59(1), 91–95. https://doi.org/10.1176/ps.2008.59.1.91

28.

Lau

J. T.

Yang

Pang

Tsui

H. Y.

Wong

Wing

Y. K.

(2005). SARS-related perceptions in Hong Kong. Emerging Infectious Diseases, 11(3), 417.

29.

Lepore

S. J.

Smyth

J. M.

(Eds.). (2002). The writing cure: How expressive writing promotes health and emotional well-being. American Psychological Association.

30.

Lietz

C. A.

Zayas

L. E.

(2010). Evaluation qualitative research for social work practitioners. Advances in Social Work, 11(2), 188–202.

31.

Lincoln

Guba

(1985). Naturalistic inquiry. Sage.

32.

Mak

I. W. C.

Chu

C. M.

Pan

P. C.

Yiu

M. G. C.

Chan

V. L.

(2009). Long-term psychiatric morbidities among SARS survivors. General Hospital Psychiatry, 31(4), 318–326. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.genhosppsych.2009.03.001

33.

Mamun

M. A.

Griffiths

M. D.

(2020). First COVID-19 suicide case in Bangladesh due to fear of COVID-19 and xenophobia: Possible suicide prevention strategies. Asian Journal of Psychiatry, 51, 102073.

34.

McKoy

L. K.

(2017). Longitudinal qualitative research and interpretive phenomenological analysis: Philosophical connections and practical considerations. Qualitative Research in Psychology, 14(4), 442–458.

35.

Moerer-Urdahl

Cresswell

J. W.

(2004). Using transcendental phenomenology to explore the “ripple effect” in a leadership mentoring program. International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 3(2), 19–35.

36.

Moustakas

(1994). Phenomenological research methods. Sage.

37.

National Association of Social Workers (2020). Coronavirus (COVID-19). https://www.socialworkers.org/Practice/Infectious-Diseases/Coronavirus

38.

Naushad

V. A.

Bierens

J. J. L. M.

Nishan

K. P.

Firjeeth

C. P.

Mohammad

O. H.

Maliyakkal

A. M.

ChaliHadan

Schreiber

M. D.

(2019). A systematic review of the impact of disaster on the mental health of medical responders. Prehospital and Disaster Medicine, 34(6), 632–643. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1049021X19004874

39.

Neubauer

B. E.

Witkop

C. T.

Varplo

(2019). How phenomenology can help us learn from the experience of others. Perspectives on Medical Education, 8, 90–97.

40.

O’Leary

Jalloh

M. F.

Neria

(2018). Fear and culture: Contextualising mental health impact of the 2014–2016 Ebola epidemic in West Africa. BMJ Global Health, 22(3), e000924. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjgh-2018-000924

41.

Plano Clark

V. L.

Anderson

Wertz

J. A.

Zhou

Schumacher

Miaskowski

(2015). Conceptualizing longitudinal mixed methods designs: A methodological review of health sciences research. Journal of Mixed Methods Research, 9(4), 297–319. https://doi.org/10.1177/1558689814543563

42.

Qualtrics [Web software]. (2005). https://www.qualtrics.com/

43.

Reardon

(2015). Ebola’s mental-health wounds linger in Africa: Health-care workers struggle to help people who have been traumatized by the epidemic. Nature. 519, 7541.

44.

Saldana

(2009). The coding manual for qualitative researchers. Sage.

45.

Saltzman

L. Y

Hansel

T. C.

Bordnick

P. S.

(2020). Loneliness, isolation and social support factors in post COVID-19 mental health. Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, and Policy, 12(S1), S55–S57.

46.

Shenton

(2004). Strategies for ensuring trustworthiness in qualitative research projects. Education for Information, 22, 63–75.

47.

Spitzer

R. L.

Kroenke

Williams

J. B. W.

Lowe

B. A.

(2006). Brief measure for assessing generalized anxiety disorder. Archives of Internal Medicine, 166, 1092–1097.

48.

Sprang

Silman

(2013). Posttraumatic stress disorder in parents and youth after health-related disasters. Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness, 7(1), 105–110.

49.

Taj

Klein

M. C. A.

Van Haltrene

(2019). Digital health behavior change technology: Bibliometric and scoping review of two decades of research. JMIR Mhealth and Uhealth, 7(12), e13311. https://doi.org/10.2196/13311

50.

USDA. (2012). U.S. Household food security survey module: Six-item short form. https://www.ers.usda.gov/media/8282/short2012.pdf

51.

Van Ness

P. H.

Fried

T. R.

Gill

T. M.

(2011). Mixed methods for the interpretation of longitudinal gerontologic data: Insights from philosophical hermeneutics. Journal of Mixed Methods Research, 5(4), 293–308. https://doi.org/10.1177/1558689811412973

52.

Vasileiou

Barnett

Thorpe

Young

(2018). Characterising and justifying sample size sufficiency in interview-based studies: Systematic analysis of qualitative health research over a 15-year period. BMC Medical Research Methodology, 18(1), 148. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12874-018-0594-7

53.

Woll

(2013). Process diary as a methodological approach in longitudinal phenomenological research. The Indo-Pacific Journal of Phenomenology, 13(2), 1–11.

54.

Zheng

Wang

Zhao

Zhan

Wang

Xiao

Cheng

(2011). Predictors of symptoms of posttraumatic stress in Chinese university students during the 2009 H1N1 influenza pandemic. Medical Science Monitor, 17(7), 60–64.

55.

Zoom Video Communications, Inc. (2020). https://zoom.us/

Harnessing Technology for Research During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Mixed Methods Diary Study Protocol

Abstract

Project Title:

Design:

Context of Study:

Objectives:

Study Population:

Keywords

Background and Study Justification

Behavioral Health Impacts of COVID-19

Landscape of Social Work Education and Practice During COVID-19

Technology and Disaster Research

Current Study

Explanation of Method

Study Period

Selection of Participants, Sampling, and Recruitment

Procedure

Data Handling and Analysis

Quantitative data

Qualitative data

Trustworthiness

Safety and Ethical Aspects

Discussion

Footnotes

Declaration of Conflicting Interests

Funding

ORCID iD

References