The purpose of this study is to determine the level of psychological stress and identify the coping strategies among the barangay health workers of Zamboanga City during the COVID-19 pandemic1st quarter of 2021. This study employed a cross-sectional design with 210 respondents included from the different health centers in Zamboanga City. The study utilized the Perceived Stress Scale and the Brief-COPE questionnaire in gathering the data. Frequency distribution and the percentage were used to analyze the data gathered. At the end of the study, results showed that 201 out of 210 or 95% of the respondents experienced moderate stress levels during the COVID-19 pandemic. The perceived distress based on the PSS-10 showed that the majority of the participants felt that they have been upset about something that happened to them unexpectedly and have been angered because of things that happened outside of their control. The perceived coping based on the PSS-10 showed that 60% of the respondents felt that sometimes things were going their way and that 58% of them can control their irritations in life. For their coping strategies, The result shows that most of the respondents uses coping strategies that are more approachable in style with a mean score of 5.74 (sd=1.70). It is then followed by strategies that are neither approach nor avoidant which are the humor and religion with a mean score of 5.57 (sd=2.0). Those who uses a more avoidant type of coping strategy have a mean score of 4.27 (sd=1.67). Among the different approach coping strategies, results shows that most respondents use active coping with a mean score of 6.21 (sd=1.74) and planning with a mean score of 6.05 (sd=1.82). For the avoidant strategies, most respondents uses self-distraction with a mean score of 5.76 (sd=1.8) and Behavioural disengagement with a mean score of 5 (sd=1.66). Those that uses neither the approach nor avoidant coping strategies mostly uses religion with a mean score of 6.43 (sd=1.95). These results may be used by the concerned agencies to organize appropriate programs for the well-being of the barangay health worker during the pandemic.

Keyword: Level of psychological stress and coping strategies Barangay health workers