Undergraduate’s Coping-Stress Strategies Implemented in Facing Sudden Education System Remodelling Caused by Pandemic in Brunei Darussalam and Indonesia

Undergraduate’s Coping-Stress Strategies Implemented in Facing Sudden Education System Remodelling Caused by Pandemic in Brunei Darussalam and Indonesia

Muhamad Afifuddin Ghozali*¹, Gamal Abdul Nasir Zakaria²

¹Areas of expertise: language education, educational psychology, guidance, and counseling

Faculty of Education, Universitas Negeri Surabaya, Indonesia

²Areas of expertise: character-building education, philosophy in education, and issues in Islamic Education.

Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah Institute of Education, Universiti Brunei Darussalam, Brunei Darussalam

*Correspondence Author

DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.47772/IJRISS.2024.802096

Received: 25 January 2024 ; Revised: 06 February 2024; Accepted: 11 February 2024; Published: 14 March 2024

ABSTRACT

The pandemic has changed the education system to online learning. The accelerated change raised many stressors that affect students’ psychological stability. Coping stress strategies are implemented to deal with the stress. The strategies are divided into problem-focused and emotional-focused coping. This study aims to investigate the coping stress strategies of undergraduates in Indonesia and Brunei Darussalam. This study is a quantitative cross-sectional survey design. The data is gathered from 498 undergraduates from Indonesia and Brunei Darussalam. The results present that the sections have different conventional coping stress strategies implemented by the respondents.  Indonesia’s undergraduates prefer to use emotional-focused coping while Brunei’s use problem-focused coping. Moreover, both sections have different prominent sub-coping strategies: Indonesia’s undergraduates more often use positive reappraisal while Brunei’s tend to apply escape avoidance. The differences are affected by many factors such as personal responses toward unexpected events based on their experience and awareness, gender-biased choice, sociocultural phenomenon, belief in positive personal development, level of education, and financial condition.

Keywords: Coping-Stress Strategies, Education System Remodelling, Pandemic, Indonesia, Brunei Darussalam

INTRODUCTION

The covid-19 pandemic has affected every aspect of the world and the education aspect was not exceptional. In the education sector, the regulation that has been made is the temporary closure of educational institutions in some countries that were affected by the pandemic including Indonesia and Brunei Darussalam. The regulation makes a further impact on the students, face-to-face classes have to be adapted into online classes, unintentionally initiating new culture in the learning process from conventional to digital which lectures, lessons, assignments, and assessments including classroom interaction are conducted remotely. This sudden change in the education system increases the stressors that lead to emotional distress. A recent study conducted by Hasanah, et al (2020) shows 12.11% of 190 respondents encounter the mild level of stress while the rest of the respondence (87.89%) experience normal level of stress during online learning in a medical college in Indonesia. Moreover, a recent study conducted in Brunei Darussalam illustrates that students and lecturers in Brunei Darussalam experience some psychological issues including stress, anxiety, and loneliness during online learning time (Idris, et al, 2021).

Stress is a reaction that causes pain or strain that cannot be handled by an individual and is connected to impaired health or behavior (Pestonjee, 1999). Thus, stress is an automatic response toward the threatening situation either physically directly threatened or emotionally directly threatened (Charlesworth & Nathan, 1986). Physical stress can respond in many forms increased heartbeat, high blood pressure, high body temperature, cold sweat, dizziness, stomachache, and easily feeling tired (Wahyuni, 2017). Wahyuni (2017) further explains that the response can be acknowledged as frustration, depression, disappointment, remorse, confusion, fear, helplessness, anxiety, unmotivation, and nervousness on the psychological aspect. The complication of stress in responding to the sudden change in the educational field due to the covid-19 pandemic surely is caused by stressors including the amount of compulsory material to learn, lack of feedback from the lecturer, the lecturer’s capability, and quality of conducting online learning, a large number of assignments, losing enthusiasm due to always being at home, stultified online learning process, restriction to meet significant people, limited internet data, and obstacles in conducting laboratory work (Yusuf & Rahim, 2010; Livana, et al, 2020). It can be understood that there are many stressors that students experience during online learning time that cause academic stress.

Academic stress surely has a significant role in disturbing the student’s academic life including students’ learning process and sudden behavioral changes. Sharif, et al (2007) hypothesize that the difference in stress impact on a person relies on the management of someone’s personality toward the stressor. In addition, the negative effect of stress could arise due to the incompatibility of adaptive ability and coping strategies for the body in responding to stress (Rasmun, 2004). The negative effects that may appear from stress on the students can be formed in concentration and focus deterioration during the lecture, interest reduction, demotivation, and even raising bad attitudes such as intentionally being belated, alcoholic and nicotine dependence etc. (Moffat, et al, 2004; Abdulghani, 2008). Moreover, the effect of stress could impact the result of the learning. Goff (2011) concludes from his research that the growing number of stresses in academics could decrease academic skills which directly affects the grade point (GP) or score of the student.

The pandemic crisis and the regulation are unavoidable for the students in their learning process. Thus, the changing of the pedagogical condition makes students subconsciously and unintentionally scaffold their stress resilience by having and implementing some strategies, in psychology called coping-stress strategies. It refers to an individual’s action to reduce stress while increasing coping skills through cognitive and behavioral processes (Ciccareli & White, 2015). It can be interpreted that the coping-stress strategies are being used to deal with the stress directly or suppress stressors before growing. Two types of coping stress can be practiced by an individual which are problem-focused coping and emotional-focused coping (Lazarus & Folkman, 1984). Firstly, Problem-focused coping refers to a coping strategy to abolish, change or reduce the stressors experienced by an individual with the concrete action of the individual (Hanifah, et al, 2020). Silvana (2012) further identifies problem-focused coping as three sub-copings including confrontative, planful problem solving, and seeking informational support. Emotional-focused coping is a type of strategy that encompasses emotion management to maintain steadiness and calmness when facing the source of stress (Hanifah, et al, 2020). The coping stress strategies that focus on emotion can be categorized as distancing, self-control, escape avoidance, accepting responsibility, positive reappraisal, and seeking social (Lazarus & Folkman, 1984; Hanifah, et al, 2020; Bakhtiar & Asriani, 2015).

There are research results from the previous study that will be used as hypotheses in this study which are, the first hypothesis mentions that the conventional coping-stress strategies category implemented by students at the university level is emotional-focused coping strategies toward online learning by looking at the result of the previous study conducted by Hanifah, et al (2020) in Indonesia with a percentage around 61,9%. Furthermore, the second hypothesis highlights that the possible coping strategies implemented by high school students are problem-focused coping strategies in adjusting to online learning by reflecting on the result of research conducted in one Senior High School in Indonesia by Andarini, et al (2020). The investigation of high school students coping with stress shows that 85.3 % of students applied problem-focused coping strategies (Andarini, et al, 2020). It indicates that the majority focused on the problem of dealing with their stress.

The problem that occurs can be identified as the sudden change from offline learning to online learning during a pandemic crisis time can cause many stressors which increase the number of psychological issues encountered by students. Psychological issues, specifically many forms of stress, can deteriorate students’ lives in academics and in general. Moreover, the student’s lack of awareness of their coping stress may lead them into self-confusion or trapped in a stress cycle. Understanding and realizing the apt strategies of an individual’s management or strategies to cope with the stress, will bring tremendous benefit to the individual in controlling the stress, moreover, understanding the inner self better. This paper will present the result of the research on coping stress strategies implemented toward online learning post-pandemic crisis by undergraduate students in Brunei Darussalam and Indonesia.

METHOD

This study uses a quantitative approach as the research methodology. The study will deliver, interpret, analyze, and show the result in a numerical approach. Quantitative research will use numbers as a tool to find the explanation of a particular phenomenon (Margono, 2010). Moreover, this study aims to investigate and analyze the gathered data on the topic of coping stress strategies and sub-coping strategies implemented by two groups, in this context undergraduate students in Indonesia and Brunei Darussalam, which encourages using a research design called a cross-sectional survey. The cross-sectional survey study aims to give the research interpreting the types of problems encountered in a wide context as well as the differential dispersal over different component populations (McCleod, 1994). This study has obtained research ethics approval issued by Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah, Universiti Brunei Darussalam Research Committee with the reference number 300/SHBIE/UBD/10 to clarify that the requirement to conduct the study includes human participants. Moreover, this study also gained permission from an Indonesian university to gather the data from their undergraduates.

Respondents

This research will take the population from different sections since the design is a cross-sectional survey consisting of undergraduate students in Indonesia and Brunei Darussalam. The inclusion criteria in determining the population are the population must be undergraduate students, the population must experience online learning conditions due to the pandemic crisis, and the collection of the data must be feasible for the research. Due to that, the number of the population will be 3000 undergraduate students from one university in Indonesia and 2000 undergraduate students from one university in Brunei Darussalam.

The representative of the research population that will be investigated is called a sample (Arikunto, 2002). The sample is needed when the population of the research has a wide area of the individual which possibly makes the researcher unable to conduct the study. The method used in this research is stratified random sampling to give equivalent probability to respondents taking part in this study. Stratified random sampling is a sampling technique by splits up the household of the respondent by the strata before random selection (Belnaves & Caputi, 2001). Then, the formula to decide the sample size of this research will use the formula presented by Kreijce & Morgan (1970):

Description:

s           = sample size

X2        = the table value of chi-square of freedom at the desired confidence level (3.8416)

N          = the population size

P          = the population proportion (assumed to be .50 since this would provide the maximum sample size)

d          = the degree of accuracy expressed as a proportion (.05)

the minimum sample size that will be needed in this research is 357 students which consists of 214 students in Indonesia and 143 students in Brunei Darussalam.

Research Instrument

The questionnaire, a set of written questions and is the respondent’s answer recorded by the researcher (Hanifah, et al, 2020), is used to obtain the data in this study since the survey study are characterized by utilizing questionnaires in data collection in many forms, such as telephone-based, face-to-face-based, postal pencil-and-paper or digital-based questionnaire (Muijs, 2010). This study’s questionnaire is derived from a conducted previous study by Hanifah, et al (2019) as it is suitable for this study, the study focuses on the same topic, and it is proven to be reliable consisting of 30 items in investigating coping-stress strategies. The questionnaire items are categorized into favorable and unfavorable items to maintain the reliability of the instrument. Thus, Likert Scale is used in this questionnaire to measure the opinion, perception, and standpoint of an individual.

Validity

The research uses a questionnaire that has already been settled and used in the previous study which can be interpreted as the instrument is valid. However, this research needs the instrument in two languages, Bahasa Indonesia and English, so the researchers use a language translation service. The translation of the language is needed to ensure that the validity of the instrument is justified. Therefore, the validity test of this study is conducted to ensure that this current study is still considered valid or not using SPSS using Pearson Product Moment Correlation formula in correlating each questionnaire scoring item with the total score of each item (Arikunto, 2010).

Description:

r_xy    = coefficient of validity item

X      = score that subject obtained from all items

Y      = total score

∑X   = sum of score in distribution X

∑Y   = sum of score in total Y

∑X² = sum of squares in distribution X

∑Y² = sum of squares in distribution Y

N     = number of respondents

The measurement of research instrument items resulting in r_table is 0.098 in level of significance 5% for 400-500 respondents.

The result of the validity test conducted shows that all items in the questionnaire are valid since r_test is higher than r_table -following the statistical criterion where “If the Pearson’s r_test has value more than (>) r_table, it indicates that the item is valid”- with the smallest value of r_test 0.167 at question item 19 and the highest value of r_test is 0.638 at question item 23.

Reliability

This research questionnaire’s reliability has already been tested in the previous study. However, the reliability test is also conducted in this study using Cronbach’s Alpha in SPSS application with Guilford Criteria to ensure the continuing value of the instrument in investigating this topic. As shown in Table 1., the reliability score of each item in this study is increasing which indicates that the items are still reliable.

Data Analysis

This research uses statistical descriptive analysis in two forms which are descriptive statistics to present the investigation of the topic and cross-tabulations to present the comparison of the topic from the two groups. Descriptive statistic is a statistical analysis that is used to describe and conclude an observation with a measurement scale used (Hanifah, et al, 2020). While, cross-tabulation is an analysis method to present the number of cases that are classified into different variables (Muijs, 2011).

The data will be presented in three analyses which are the first and the second will focus on presenting the conventional coping-stress strategies used in dealing with stress during online learning caused by the pandemic crisis. This part will consist of the percentage of coping-stress strategies and sub-coping strategies implemented. In detail, the first part will represent the Indonesia section while the second part will represent the Brunei Darussalam section. The proportion of the coping-stress-strategies and sub-coping strategies data will be analyzed in Microsoft Excel using a formula, as follows:

P = (f/n)x 100%

Description:

P    = percentage

f     = total score

n    = maximum total score

Moreover, the third part will present the conventional coping stress strategies from both sections. It is used to clear and analyze the differences between both sections.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

This part presents the result and discussion of this research which is divided into two parts which are Section One (data from Indonesia participants) and Section Two (data from Brunei Darussalam participants.

Results

Demography

The study has surpassed the minimum number of respondents as shown in Table 2. The data gathered in this study is 498 respondents from both countries. In detail, research data from Indonesia was obtained from May until July 2021 from 238 participants from one university in Indonesia. Whilst, research data from Brunei Darussalam was from 260 respondents from one university in Brunei Darussalam from July to August 2021.

Section One (Data from Indonesia Participants)

The result of data collection through a survey in Indonesia and data analysis in descriptive and percentage forms of coping-stress strategies are presented in Table 3 & Table 4.

The Table 3. shows that there are 135 individuals (56.7%) who are inclined to deal with their stress during online learning time as a result of pandemic regulation using emotional-focused coping. On the other side, 40.3% of total respondents, 96 students, have the tendency to apply problem-focused coping strategies. In addition, there are 7 individuals (2.9%) who implement both strategies.

The Table 4. above elucidates the usage of sub-coping stress strategies of university students in Indonesia. The value of each sub-coping strategy is obtained from calculation where each sub-coping strategy’s total score from respondents is divided by the maximal score of sub-coping strategies. The calculation will show the percentage of each sub-coping strategy implemented by the respondents. The survey unravels that positive reappraisal is the prominent sub-coping stress strategy with the highest rate which is 85,3%. While the second is distancing with 84.8% percentage and is followed by escape avoidance with 81.7%. The fourth is seeking informational support, which indicates that 81.3% of respondents tend to implement this sub-coping stress strategy. Furthermore, the sub-coping stress strategy with the smallest percentage, around 67.1% is self-control which indicates that this sub-coping stress strategy is not quite popular compared to other sub-stress strategies in this research.

Section Two (Data from Brunei Darussalam Participants)

The result of data collection through a survey in Brunei Darussalam and data analysis in descriptive and percentage forms of coping-stress strategies is presented in Table 5 & Table 6.

The result of the survey presented in Table 5. shows there are 127 individuals (48.8%) who tend to apply problem-focused coping stress strategies during online learning time due to covid-19 pandemic. Whilst, 118 respondents (45.5%) have the tendency to counter their stress by focusing on the emotional aspect as their strategies. Therefore. both strategies are implemented equally by 15 individuals (5.8%).

Table 6. focuses on the specific coping strategies implementation identified as sub-coping strategies in Brunei Darussalam during online learning. The score and percentage are calculated in a similar manner to the data in the coping stress strategies implemented in Indonesia. The result of the survey presents that escape avoidance is the prominent sub-coping stress strategy being applied by undergraduates with the highest percentage which is 80%. Hence, accepting responsibility is placed as the second conventional sub-coping strategy with 78.5% and it is followed by two sub-coping-stress which share an equal percentage at 77.5%, seeking informational support and distancing. The fourth is positive reappraisal with 76.8%. Furthermore, the sub-coping stress strategy with the smallest percentage around 55.2% is seeking social which means that finding help from social or surrounding to deal with the stress caused by online learning is the last strategy being implemented rather than other sub-stress strategies in this research.

Discussion

Coping Stress Strategies Implemented in Indonesia

By looking at the findings in this study, it can be identified that 56,7% of respondents in Indonesia are inclined to implement coping stress toward online learning in the form of emotional-focused coping stress strategies (EFC). On the other hand, 40,3% of respondents are found to implement problem-focused coping stress strategies. Moreover, 2,9% of respondents implement both coping stress strategies. It indicates that the conventional coping stress implemented by the undergraduate students in this section is emotional-focused coping stress strategies. The results show that it is aligned with the first hypothesis (Hanifah, et al, 2020). The findings of sub-coping stress strategies in this section show that positive reappraisal with 85.3% is the most frequent sub-coping implemented followed by distancing (84.8%) and escape avoidance (81.7%) from EFC. Thus, it is followed by seeking informational support (81.3%) from PFC. It indicates that the sub-coping stress strategies implemented in this section by the undergraduate students mostly from emotional-focused coping strategies while some sub-coping strategies within the problem-focused coping strategies area are still frequently used by the undergraduate to deal with the stress in this section.

The previous study by Hanifah, et al, (2020) that concluded the emotional-focused coping strategy as the conventional coping stress strategy, it shows that the tendency of the respondents to use EFC as the effective strategy is based on the environmental aspect which causes stressors such as unprecedented situations such as sudden changes in the education system due to pandemics.

Similar to the first previous study, gender also plays an important role in determining the choice of coping with stress. Women tend to implement emotional-focused coping stress compared to men (Patton & Goddard, 2006) which also aligned with the first previous study (Hanifah, et al, 2020) and another study by Matud (2004) indicates women score higher than men in emotional coping stress styles and avoidance coping styles. The data from this section has more female respondents (78.15%) than male respondents (21.85%) which indicates that the dominant gender, female, in this section may have an important role in affecting the tendency of using EFC as the conventional strategy. In this community of this section, women tend to use emotion in handling problems or issues as a result of the community paradigm that a woman doesn’t need to get higher education which creates a lack of critical and problem-solving thinking instillation toward problems or issues. Again, the social and cultural aspects take a role in shaping people’s preferences of choice even in their way to cope with stress (Adi, 2010). The woman in this community mostly will take a role as the follower in their future family and it is exemplified in their household and community that shapes their worldview not to be the decision-maker which also creates their awareness to be more “let-it-go” mentality when facing problems or issues beyond their control even in their education journey compare to man’s stereotype which will try to ensure everything under their control. Whilst, emotional-focused coping strategy usage indicates that the user believes that the source of stress is an immutable aspect due to the individual’s incapability to change it (Adi, 2010).

Most of the respondents in this section are in emerging adulthood with some late adolescents. Emerging adulthood is prolonged adolescence, with a focus on 18-25 (Arnett, 2000). it indicates that the respondents in this section are in the identity transition between adolescents and emerging adults. The transition process leads to the important role of emotional aspects in their personal development. It also includes the approach used in understanding the condition. Adolescents seem to reorganize their emotional regulation which leads them to be more emotionally vulnerable before they reshape their emotional regulation in the emerging adulthood stage (Zimmerman & Iwanski, 2014). With all of the internal emotional confusion in the transition stage which is also combined with unexpected events, it might lead the respondents more prefer to use the emotional approach to cope with their stress rather than the rational approach to solve the problem.

Moreover, the inconsistent and enigmatic regulations made during the pandemic time in this section strengthen the paradigm of uncontrollable psychological distress during the pandemic. It creates the hollow of out-of-control stress. As the result, respondents prefer to implement the emotional-focused strategy as the result of the conditioned framing of stress from the regulation made. the regulation itself does not solely create the effect of the paradigm but also takes a role as the stressor for the students due to the inconsistency and obscurity. It can be seen that people’s choice of coping strategies is strongly affected by many factors including sociocultural, experience, and awareness of each individual (Gunawan, 2018). Additionally, the political aspect also plays an important role in determining people’s choice of coping with stress which is the regulation of responding to a critical event. However, it needs further study to confirm and support or even contradict those aspects.

Coping Stress Strategies Implemented in Brunei Darussalam

The findings in the section of Brunei Darussalam found 127 respondents (48.8%) who have a tendency to implement problem-focused coping stress strategies while 118 respondents (45.5%) incline using emotional-focuses coping stress strategies. Moreover, there are 15 respondents (5.8%) who can balance both EFC and PFC as their coping stress strategies. The conventional coping stress strategies implemented by undergraduate students in this section is problem-focused coping although the percentage gap between problem-focused coping and emotional-focused coping is slightly different, approximately 3.3%. It is aligned with the finding of Andarini, et al, (2020) study which shows that the conventional coping stress is problem-focused coping with the respondents from senior high school students in Indonesia. Furthermore, sub-coping stress strategies implemented by the respondents in this section are quite interesting since the most frequent sub-coping implemented is escape avoidance and the second is accepting responsibility in the emotional focused-coping stress strategies category which contradicts the finding of conventional coping stress in this section. However, the third position is shared between distancing (from emotional-focused coping) and seeking informational support (from problem-focused coping) with a percentage of 77.5%. This unexpected result is possible to happen since the gap between PFC and EFC is narrow.

The choice of the problem-focused coping strategies is derived from positive personal development (Andarini, et al, 2020). The positive development of an individual has a tremendous influence on shaping a person’s preference for coping with stress regardless of gender. Similar to Indonesian respondents’ characteristics, the number of female participants is higher than male participants with a percentage of 78,08% to 21,92%. Based on the finding and the discussion in the previous section, it might be presumed the emotional-focused strategy is the conventional coping stress strategy, otherwise, it’s not. There is a study conducted by Leite et al (Gunawan, 2018) found that women prefer to use problem-focused coping strategies which contradicts the assumption that a community with a female majority will utilize EFC as the conventional strategy. There are many factors that affect this phenomenon including education, the income, and positive support from the school, family, and community (Gunawan, 2018; Andarini, et al, 2020).

The level of education and income are the significant factors in women’s choice of problem-focused coping as the coping stress strategies (Gunawan, 2018). Having a better level of education or being surrounded by educated people will shape the individual to think more rationally, logically, and knowledgeable. It brings the mindset of scholars to think in-depth, critically, coherent, and rational which can train a person’s paradigm into practical and educated. the usage of problem-focused coping can be conducted when the individual believed that the stressor can be solved directly which brings the practical mind of an individual to the stressor (Yikealo, et al, 2018). Thus, income could affect people’s mindset in treating the stress experienced by one individual (Britt, et al, 2016). By having financial stability, the person can focus on the stressor except for financial-related. Even when there is no adversity, financial instability is the factor in raising stress in the community. Severely, the low level of income is not only affecting the financial and mental of a person, but also the physical health (Jones, et al, 2018). It can be understood that financial stability is mostly reached by Brunei Darussalam families, or at least the have social security program in the vital area from the government, may lead the undergraduate students to be more focused on problem-focused coping strategies as their coping stress mechanism rather than focus on their emotion to deal with stress. Nevertheless, it needs further investigation in the next study.

The support of the school, family, and community for Bruneian undergraduates is better, in my perspective. It can be proved that the institution provided many mental health programs such as psychological counseling services for students, group guidance programs, leadership programs, group counseling, and also many extra-curricular clubs that are integrated with each other which bring the ambiance of Indonesia’s high school extracurricular club. As one of the mental health agents in the institution who is also from Indonesia, the researcher can understand that the promotion of the Brunei institution to increase student’s awareness of mental health is massive with smaller challenges than in Indonesia which also gives benefits in accelerating the mental health support. Thus, the students mostly live in Brunei with the farthest distance around one-two hour of driving a car to reach their family. Hence, most families are also well educated and more aware of mental health issues which can give them insight and the support needed for them, even though, not all families have that. However, it’s still better compared with families in Indonesia. Hence, the undergraduates in Indonesia mostly live far away from their families and mostly get support from their friends or loved ones which sometimes are the stressors of the stress. Nevertheless, it needs further studies to understand this aspect.

Coping stress strategies differences in Indonesia and Brunei Darussalam

The findings of this study illustrate that the coping stress strategies implemented by the majority of respondents from those sections are different. Table 7. explains that respondents from both countries apply all those types of coping stress strategies hypothesized. Moreover, the strategies are also applied in balance for some individuals as they cope with stress during online learning. However, the most used coping stress is different depending on many factors including personal responses toward unexpected events based on their experience and awareness, gender-biased choice, sociocultural phenomenon, belief in positive personal development, level of education, and financial security. In one university in Indonesia, the choice of coping stress strategies by the majority of the participants are within the emotional-focused coping stress strategies category while problem-focused coping stress strategy is implemented by the majority of undergraduate students in one Brunei Darussalam university.

This study is only conducted to investigate the coping stress strategies implemented by undergraduates in one university in Brunei Darussalam and one university in Indonesia responding the online learning as the product of covid-19 regulation in post-crisis time. Thus, it needs more study to understand the empirical factor that causes the different coping stress strategies of the two communities who live in the different countries even if they are in the same region, South East Asia. The study to investigate the effect of the coping stress strategies needs to be added to enrich the findings of this research since it doesn’t show the effect of the chosen coping stress strategies.

CONCLUSION

According to the result of this study, a conclusion can be drawn from some points. Different type of coping stress strategies is implemented by undergraduate students in responding to the unexpected changes from offline learning to online learning due to the pandemic. The conventional coping stress strategies show that respondents in Indonesia prefer to apply emotional-focused coping with a percentage of 56.7 % of the research population while respondents in Brunei Darussalam are inclined to use problem-focused coping as well as their choice of sub-coping strategies with a percentage of 48.8 % of the research population.  It also highlights that positive reappraisal, distancing, and escape avoidance are the top three sub-coping strategies in Indonesia but Brunei Darussalam respondents prefer using escape avoidance, accepting responsibility, and distancing with seeking informational support as the top three conventional sub-coping stress strategies. The choice of coping stress strategies is presumed to derive from many factors. The factors that might influence Indonesia’s conventional coping strategies are environmental events, gender, sociocultural, personal development stage, and the government’s enigmatic regulation. on the other hand, the factors that affect Brunei undergraduate’s coping with stress strategies are positive personal development, level of education, financial stability or income, and support of the school, family, and community.

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