In it together: Dyadic coping among doctoral students and partners

The present study explored doctoral stressors encountered and the coping strategies used by two male doctoral students and their respective female partners. Participation involved the independent completion of a daily audio diary for five weeks comprising one week taken from five consecutive months. When completing the audio diary, participants were asked to describe stressors and coping efforts. They also described the perceived effectiveness of coping strategies used. Thematic narrative analysis produced three deductively derived themes; 'stressors', 'individual coping' and 'dyadic coping'. Recommendations are offered for effective individual and dyadic coping when seeking to manage stressors associated with doctoral study. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.