Coping Strategies of Social Work Students

Various types of coping an individual’s response to negative stress, have been identified, but the two broad categories typically used in research are problem-focused and emotion-focused coping. The field experience creates new, unique coping needs for the social work student. They must deal professionally with the sometimes horrific circumstances of others and must balance the equivalent of a full-time job with the other demands in their lives, and the field experience’s organization or supervision may add another stressor. Inadequate coping leads to burnout. Very few studies have been published about burnout in students in the caring professions, but a 2008 study indicated that students were coping in unexpected ways, and a 2018 study suggested that students in that study were effectively avoiding burnout and coping with all the other factors tested except role ambiguity.