Student Experiences of Loss During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Mixed Methods Study

Overview: Widespread losses were experienced among higher education students during the COVID-19 pandemic. Results from a mixed method, cross-sectional survey (Nf354) of social work students in the U.S. highlight compounded experiences of loss, with differences in losses experienced by age and program modality. Implications for social work education are discussed.Proposal text: Background
The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic was a time of abrupt and widespread change for higher education students. The majority of colleges and universities in the U.S. closed their campuses and the adaptation to online education upended students’ ability to receive resources and support in many areas of their lives (Conrad et al., 2021; Paceley et al., 2021). Bereavement and loss during the college years is often many students’ first experience of loss and impacts their academic and social environments ( Liew & Servaty-Seib, 2020; Thai & Moore, 2018). Recent literature notes students’ experiences of both death-related losses, as well as nondeath losses—such as losses of employment, sense of security, and academic life (Paceley et al., 2021; Sirrine et al., 2021). Nondeath losses, which are often unacknowledged or devalued, are associated with greater risks of disenfranchised loss and prolonged grief (Gitterman & Knight, 2019; Mitchell, 2017)

Since higher education students were experiencing a wide range of changes and loss related to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, this study aims to understand and describe these experiences among social work students during the initial COVID-19 pandemic outbreak in the United States. The purpose of this mixed methods study is to describe: 1) social work students’ experiences of loss and grief during the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States; and 2) the association between differing experiences of loss by age, degree program, and program modality.

Methods
This study used a mixed method, cross-sectional design to assess the experiences of undergraduate and graduate students’ losses in the United States experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic during its early onset between April 24-May 26, 2020. This study was approved by the authors’ Institutional Review Board. The survey was conducted online using Qualtrics and included demographic variables, degree program, program modality, and an open-ended question assessing students’ experiences of loss during the COVID-19 pandemic. There were 526 responses with 354 completing the open-ended question. No group-based demographic differences were found for those who completed/did not complete the qualitative response. Qualitative responses were analyzed using an inductive content analysis in Dedoose and group-based differences were assessed using a hit/mix matrix and chi-square analysis in SPSS.
Results
Results indicate students experienced multiple, compounding losses during the first months of the COVID-19 pandemic, including experiential and relational losses, loss of necessities such as housing, employment and food security, as well as abstract losses (i.e. sense of safety or freedom). Group-based differences were found for different age groups and students in campus-based and hybrid programs compared to online programs.
Conclusion
Students experienced widespread losses at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, especially in areas of experiential and relational losses. Ten percent of students noted losses of housing, employment, and experiences of food insecurity necessitating institutional responses in times of crisis. The group-based differences with increased identification of experiential and relational losses for students in campus-based and hybrid programs has implications for the ways in which social work educators effectively engage students during times of academic disruption.