Understanding the social stresses affecting the families of Algerian students and students of these families during the period of their PhD studies in the UK in the context of family separation.

This research study aims to understand the social stressors impacting families of these Algerianstudents and students themselves during the period of their doctoral journey in the UK. Itexplores how students, and their families perceive social stress and conceptualize familyseparation. It also aims at learning about the coping strategies they use to cope with familyseparation and social stress. The research is constructivist, and a descriptive multiple-casestudy design has been used. Data have been collected using qualitative semi-structuredinterviews with 18 students (90-180 mints) and 11 family members (60- 120 mints). Thematicanalysis has been used to analyse the collected data. Findings showed that social stress forAlgerian students and their families is originated from separation and study where all thestressors they came across were separation-related and study-related. With reference to theimpact of COVID pandemic in intensifying these stressors, participants expressed thepsychological and emotional impacts of separation on their mental health. Participants’conceptualizations of family separation were related to physical and emotional absence andpresence. Algerian PhD students and family members pointed out to their use of social media,religious, emotional coping, and positive thinking to cope with separation and stress.