The Center for the Study of Stress, Trauma and Resilience is conducting a survey to collect data on how people are experiencing the COVID-19 pandemic. To find out more, we asked professors Jeff Ashby and Ken Rice, the co-directors of the center, questions about the survey’s goals.
What is the survey about?
We are asking people about their experiences and reactions with regard to COVID-19, along with a host of standard scales that try to get at various other psychological issues (e.g., stress over the past month, social support, etc.).
Who can qualify and how is that determined?
Any adult in the U.S. 18 years of age and older. We have an initial survey on a webpage that interested subjects complete and we’ll use that for screening purposes. We also hope to balance participation as much as possible across different regions of the country and different demographic groups (e.g., gender, race/ethnicity, etc.).
What will the results show?
There are three main interests:
- What is the extent of COVID-related experiences and reactions
- What is the association between those experiences and other psychological factors
- Are there some characteristics or factors that reduce the adverse psychological effects of COVID experiences, and are there any factors that make those effects worse for people?
How will the research study be used?
A couple of ways. We expect the descriptive information (number one above) to be useful to simply gauge the extent of experiences. Such information is helpful in science but also in teaching and practice, as a way, for example, for policy leaders to base some decisions on actual data. Number two and number three above would be used in the same way to explain which psychological variables are and are not associated with COVID. With number three, if some groups or some general factors within the larger sample show different effects, then resources might be directed at those groups to improve their functioning or to bolster protective factors while reducing factors increasing their risk.
Professor & Director of the Play Therapy Training Institute
Jeff Ashby received his Ph.D. in counseling psychology from Pennsylvania State University. He is a licensed psychologist (GA 002265) and a Diplomate of the American Board of Professional Psychology (ABPP #5351). He does research in the areas of stress and trauma and cognitive structures (e.g., perfectionism). His additional interests include play therapy and adventure/experiential modalities of counseling.
Endowed Professor & Co-Director, Center for the Study of Stress, Trauma, and Resilience
Kenneth Rice holds the Ken and Mary Matheny Endowed Professorship in the Department of Counseling and Psychological Services, where he conducts research and teaches in counseling psychology doctoral program. He also co-directs the college’s Center for the Study of Stress, Trauma, and Resilience.