APA Project - Results Section (Assignment #5)

1

Title Here

First and Last Name Here

Department of XXX, College Here

Class number here (It is Psyc 005): Name of Class here (It is Research Methods in Psychology)

Instructor name here

Date

Results

Statistical Analysis

To test the hypothesis that levels of stress have increased since the Covid-19 pandemic began, the distribution of responses for each variable were evaluated. Descriptive statistics are summarized in tables 1 and 2. Statistical analyses were conducted using excel and Google Forms.

Table1

Descriptive Statistics

Variable	Range	Mean (SD)	Median	Mode
Age	22 (18-40)	26.45 (6.50)	24.5	30
Number of emotional symptoms	6 (2-8)	5 (1.92)	5.5	6
Number of cognitive symptoms	3 (3-6)	4.05 (1.91)	4	3

Table 2

Frequency Table

Variable	n	%
Sleep No change Somewhat less/more than usual A lot less/more than usual	7 9 4	35% 45% 20%
Appetite No change Somewhat less/more than usual A lot less/more than usual	8 8 4	40% 40% 20%
Subjective Stress Level No change Somewhat less/more than usual A lot less/more than usual	4 5 11	20% 25% 55%
Emotional Symptoms Anxiety or Fear Irritability or Anger Restlessness Sadness, Grief, or Depression Guilt Overwhelmed, Helpless, or Hopeless Isolated, Lost, or Lonely Apathy	16 12 7 11 6 12 10 4	80% 60% 35% 55% 30% 60% 50% 20%
Cognitive Symptoms Memory problems Difficulty concentrating Limited attention span Difficulty making decisions Slowness in thinking, analyzing, or comprehending Confusion	9 18 16 8 6 4	45% 90% 80% 40% 30% 20%
Stressors Working/taking classes from home Job responsibilities Unemployment Relationships Personal Health Health of Others Finances Societal/political events Other	16 12 4 8 3 6 8 14 0	80% 60% 20% 40% 15% 30% 40% 70% 0%
Concern about Stress Yes No	12 8	60% 40%

Sleep & Appetite Changes

To determine whether sleeping and eating patterns have changed in response to Covid-19, participants were asked to rate the extent to which their sleep and appetite has increased/decreased. 65% of participants reported a change in sleeping patterns with 45% sleeping somewhat more or less than usual and 20% sleeping a lot more or less than usual. Similarly, 40% reported no change in appetite, 40% reported a small increase or decrease in appetite, and 20% reported a big increase or decrease in appetite.

Emotional Symptoms

To determine whether participants have experienced an increase in emotional symptoms since Covid-19, participants were shown a list of symptoms and asked to select all that had started or increased since Covid-19. Both the number of symptoms and the types of symptoms were evaluated. The results show that on average participants have experienced a significant number of emotional symptoms since Covid-19 ( M = 5.00,  SD = 1.92). The majority of participants reported feelings of anxiety or fear (80%), irritability or anger (60%), sadness, grief, or depression (55%), and overwhelmed, helpless, or hopeless (60%).

Cognitive Symptoms

To determine whether participants have experienced an increase in cognitive symptoms of stress since Covid-19, participants were shown a list of symptoms and asked to select all that had started or increased since Covid-19. Both the number of symptoms and the types of symptoms were evaluated. The results show that on average participants have experienced a moderate number of cognitive symptoms since Covid-19 ( M = 4.05,  SD = 1.91). The majority of participants reported difficulty concentrating (90%) and a limited attention span (80%).

Subjective Stress Level

To determine whether people have experienced an increase in their subjective feeling of stress, participants were asked to rate the extent to which their stress level has increased on a scale of 0 to 2. The results suggest that most participants (80%) have experienced an increase in stress and 60% felt concerned about their stress level.

Stressors

To explore why participants have experienced a change in symptoms of stress since Covid-19 began, participants were shown a list of stressors and were asked to select those that they believed had contributed to their change in stress. The results suggest that working from home (60%), taking classes online (80%) and news/social media (90%) have been the primary contributors to stress.

Coping Techniques

Open-ended responses to the question “how do you typically respond to stress?” revealed a variety of healthy coping techniques including exercise, breathing exercises, meditation, journaling, talking to friends. A number of maladaptive emotion-focused coping techniques were also identified such as drinking, smoking, eating, and procrastination.

Summary

Taken together, these results suggest that levels of stress have increased significantly since the Covid-19 pandemic began. Specifically, these results suggest that participants have experienced a change in the amount of sleep they are getting, a moderate change in appetite, and a significant increase in emotional and cognitive symptoms. Working from home, taking classes online, and societal/political events appear to be the primary causes for these changes in stress level.