TY - JOUR
T1 - Construing Worst Experiences of the COVID-19 Pandemic in the USA: A Thematic Analysis
AU - Winter, David
AU - Brunet, Alain
AU - Rivest-Beauregard, Marjolaine
AU - Hammoud, Razan
AU - Cipolletta, Sabrina
N1 - © 2022 The Authors. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives License
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/.
PY - 2021/12/8
Y1 - 2021/12/8
N2 - The COVID-19 pandemic has not only resulted in millions of deaths but, together with the strategies imposed to contain the spread of the disease, it has had significant psychological and social effects. This paper considers these effects in residents of the USA, the country that has reported the highest number of deaths from COVID-19. Between April and May, 2020, responses were obtained to an on-line survey, which included asking participants, recruited by snowball sampling, to describe their worst experience of the pandemic. The responses of 741 participants, primarily female and Caucasian, were subjected to a thematic content analysis which used a primarily deductive approach in which these responses were viewed in terms of transitions in construing. The transition themes identified were anxiety; threat; loss of role; sadness; contempt; and stress. Various subthemes were also identified. The study provided further evidence of the utility of a personal construct framework in conceptualizing experiences associated with illness and the risk of this. Implications of its findings are considered at both an individual and a societal level.
AB - The COVID-19 pandemic has not only resulted in millions of deaths but, together with the strategies imposed to contain the spread of the disease, it has had significant psychological and social effects. This paper considers these effects in residents of the USA, the country that has reported the highest number of deaths from COVID-19. Between April and May, 2020, responses were obtained to an on-line survey, which included asking participants, recruited by snowball sampling, to describe their worst experience of the pandemic. The responses of 741 participants, primarily female and Caucasian, were subjected to a thematic content analysis which used a primarily deductive approach in which these responses were viewed in terms of transitions in construing. The transition themes identified were anxiety; threat; loss of role; sadness; contempt; and stress. Various subthemes were also identified. The study provided further evidence of the utility of a personal construct framework in conceptualizing experiences associated with illness and the risk of this. Implications of its findings are considered at both an individual and a societal level.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85121385113&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1080/10720537.2021.2012544
DO - 10.1080/10720537.2021.2012544
M3 - Article
SN - 1072-0537
JO - Journal of Constructivist Psychology
JF - Journal of Constructivist Psychology
ER -