College students’ emotional responses to social distancing protocols during the COVID-19 pandemic: A qualitative diary study

This qualitative diary study explored emotional responses of college students to social distancing (SD) protocols during the COVID-19 pandemic. Twenty college students in an undergraduate senior capstone psychology course at a medium-sized public university in the Eastern USA wrote reflective diaries for several weeks. Their reactions to ongoing SD protocols were analyzed across four cohorts, from the virus onset in spring 2020 through late 2021. Entries related to SD protocols were selected, then coded with etic and emic coding strategies to characterize the aspects of SD and associated emotions. Participants discussed ten aspects of SD in passages that were complex in emotion, most strongly fear, joy, and sadness, and to a lesser extent, anger, disgust, and surprise. Gender differences in emotional reactions were minimal. Results are discussed in relation to student well-being, the socio-emotional toll of SD protocols, and ways to ease negative SD impacts. [ FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of Journal of Human Behavior in the Social Environment is the property of Taylor & Francis Ltd and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full . (Copyright applies to all s.)