Exercise and Coping Mechanisms in Graduate Occupational Therapy Students During the COVID-19 Pandemic and Civil Unrest Period: A Descriptive Study

Objective: The COVID-19 pandemic and the sociopolitical climate in the United States have imposed additional stress and anxiety for graduate students. We explored the stress level in graduate occupational therapy students, the role of exercise in reducing stress, and common coping mechanisms applied to manage academic and sociopolitical stress. Methods: A survey was created and distributed to graduate occupational therapy students in the U.S. Results: Most participants reported moderate to high levels of academic-related stress (n = 73, 97.33%), and more than half reported moderate levels of anger and frustration because of academic-related stress (n = 43, 57.33%). Half of the participants reported that they engage in physical exercise as a coping mechanism for academic stress (n = 38, 50.67%), and most participants thought that kickboxing would help reduce stress (n = 48, 64.00%) and reduce anger and frustration (n = 56, 74.67%). Conclusion: the well-being of graduate students over the past two years has increased after the COVID-19 pandemic and the sociopolitical tension in the U.S. Future research is needed to determine how this stress may affect graduation and employment outcomes and recommendations for burnout and suicide prevention.