Journal Article

Coping with stressful life disruptions due to long COVID: A qualitative study

Robinson, Lawrence, Ho, Chester, Reis, Logan, Simpson, Robert, Daneman, Nick, Bayley, Mark, Wasilewski, Marina B., Sanchez, Kris, Nelson, Michelle L.A., Sheppard, Christine, Levy, Charissa, Goulding, Susie, Vijayakumar, Abirami, Steinberg, Rosalie, Hitzig, Sander L., Nguyen, Melody, Leighton, Jaylyn, English, Mahala

2025

Overview

Long COVID impacts people's physical health and cognition which immensely affects their psychosocial well-being. A larger study was conducted that explored the psychosocial impacts of Long COVID on individuals and caregivers. This paper focuses on the impact of these stressful disruptions on one's health and psychosocial well-being, and how individuals cope with them. Utilizing a qualitative descriptive approach, we conducted interviews with 67 participants (52 people with Long COVID (mean age: 50.4) and 15 caregivers (mean age: 50.0)). People with Long COVID and caregivers were recruited from healthcare institutions through care team referrals, patient partners, and health organizations and via social media platforms. A thematic codebook developed through inter-coder agreement processes was used to analyze the data. Three key themes were identified: (1) Disruptions in people with Long COVID and caregivers' lives are characterized by a deviation from their perceived 'normalcy', (2) Disruptions lead to substantial stress, loss and grief (independence, agency, meaning, and purpose), and (3) People with Long COVID and caregivers cope with stressful disruptions by adapting their daily activities. Our findings make the case for supportive rehabilitation strategies that address the psychosocial repercussions of Long COVID to help mitigate feelings of loss and grief, thereby increasing individuals' overall quality of life and well-being.

• Publisher: Public Library of Science,Public Library of Science (PLoS)
• Subject: Adaptation, Psychological / Adult / Aged / Analysis / Biology and Life Sciences / Brain research / Caregivers / Caregivers - psychology / Chronic fatigue syndrome / Chronic illnesses / Cognition / Coping (Psychology) / COVID-19 - psychology / Data collection / Disruption / Female / Humans / Life change events / Long COVID / Male / Medicine and Health Sciences / Mental health / Methods / Middle Aged / Psychological aspects / Qualitative Research / Quality of Life / SARS-CoV-2 / Social aspects / Social networks / Social Sciences / Stress, Psychological - psychology / Support groups / Well being