Thriving Despite the Odds: Digital Capital and Reimagined Life Projects Among Mexican College Students During COVID-19.

Publisher: Kluwer Academic Country of Publication: Netherlands NLM ID: 7707467 Publication Model: Print-Electronic Cited Medium: Internet ISSN: 1573-076X (Electronic) Linking ISSN: 0165005X NLM ISO Abbreviation: Cult Med Psychiatry Subsets: MEDLINE

Publication: Dordrecht : Kluwer Academic
Original Publication: Dordrecht, Boston, Reidel.

COVID-19* ; Students*/psychology ; Education, Distance*; Humans ; Mexico ; Universities ; Young Adult ; Female ; Male ; Adult ; Social Support ; Adolescent

During the pandemic, Mexico experienced one of the longest periods of school closures in Latin America. After the first year of COVID-19, thousands of college students dropped out of school, which has been partially attributed to difficulties in adapting to online learning. This study examines how some college students in Mexico coped with and overcame these challenges. Our research draws on journals of and in-depth interviews with Mexican college students who participated in the Pandemic Journaling Project-a combined online journaling platform and research study. Participant accounts describe challenges students experienced navigating the rapid roll-out of online education. However, over time, many of the students in our study cultivated a renewed sense of purpose in their educational activities. They attributed this shift in perspective to their ability to carve out new approaches to social support, the development of professional capacities, and insight into the potential for technology to promote a more inclusive society. Our work shows how students' ability to integrate digital competencies into their broader life projects and aspirations for the future played an important role in college perseverance and reducing mental health distress. Findings have important implications for the potential role of increased access to technological resources in mitigating social inequity and improving mental health outcomes among young adults.
(© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.)

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Keywords: COVID-19; College students; Inequity; Life projects; Mental health; Technology

Date Created: 20231114 Date Completed: 20240423 Latest Revision: 20240423

20250114

10.1007/s11013-023-09839-z

37962769