COPING AND FAMILY ADAPTATION OF UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS OF A HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTION, IN TIMES OF PANDEMIC

Abstract

Introduction: The SARS-CoV2 pandemic declared by the World Health Organization in March 2020 as COVID-19 brought with it drastic measures of health, economic and social control, which fell on the family structure and, differentially, on each of its members, who were isolated to the space of the home. In education, remote communication processes were reinvented that forced families and institutions to appropriate the multiple technological alternatives existing in educational informatics for continuous learning. Understanding family dynamics as the set of relationships that develop within the family organization, where the forms of authority and exercise of power, norms, affects, generation of values, systems of collaboration and exchange, beliefs, conflict management, participation and collaboration activities, and in synthesis the various ways of relating to the community and social-educational environment are reflected,   It is necessary to know to what extent the pandemic could influence the family dynamics of nursing students and, therefore, their academic process.

Objective: To identify the characteristics of family dynamics in terms of cohesion, adaptability, communication, coping capacity and adaptation, of nursing students of the University Foundation of the Andean Area, within the framework of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Materials and methods. Cross-sectional descriptive study. Random sample stratified by academic semester, with an NC=95% and precision error=5%, corresponding to 416 nursing students, who participated voluntarily. Instruments: Sociodemographic characterization survey, Olson et al. communication scale, FACES III scale to assess family cohesion and flexibility, and Calixta Roy's CAPS scale to assess coping and adaptation capacity. Self-completed information collection. Database in Excel. Statistical analysis with proportions, means, Chi-square test and logistic regression, using SPSS v.26.

Results. Female predominance (78.4%), ages between 21 and 30 years old (57.5%), urban area (90.6%), single (66.3%).  Coping capacity was average and adaptation was compensatory.  Significant relationships were found with age, gender, academic day, and occupation. Conclusions. The ability to cope and adapt during the pandemic was aided by good communication and was negatively affected by family aggregation and flexibility regarding boundaries, leadership, roles, and rules.