Perceived Individual, Partner, and Community Stressors Related to Covid-19 Quarantine in Indonesia: A Qualitative Study

COVID-19 was declared as a public health emergency of international concern on January 30, 2020. Currently, this virus has spread to more than 193 countries in the world, including Indonesia. The spread of the COVID-19 virus continues to negatively impact individuals’ health, economy, psychological well-being, and social and family relationships. Although COVID-19 is considered an international concern, individual perception, and reaction toward a stressor vary across countries. As such, this study aimed to highlight how individuals living in Indonesia perceived stress related to the early phases of COVID-19. We examine this across three contexts: perceived individual, interpersonal (i.e., their romantic partner’s stress), and community stressors. Using inductive thematic analysis, qualitative data collected via an online survey from 422 individuals in a romantic relationship from March to June 2020 showed that participants’ answers could be clustered to ten overarching themes. Interestingly, one theme describing an absence of stress or positive stress emerged in the analysis. Results suggested that participants were experiencing vulnerability related to social restriction due to the COVID-19 situation, offering an insight into future culture-appropriate practices related to stress and coping responses for individuals in romantic relationships.