Citation

Banerjee A, Kohli N. J. Posit. Sch. Psychol. 2022; 6(4): 7797-7805.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2022, ASR Research)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

PURPOSE/ Background - Like many developing countries, India started to follow several strategies such as lockdown and social distancing to combat the spread of Coronavirus (COVID-19). Although lockdown was an essential step to curb the pathological spread of virus, the preventive measures brought unwanted mental health issues such as fear of isolation and loneliness. The study aimed to measure the prevalence of loneliness among young adults and identify at-risk young adults susceptible to loneliness.

Method - Data was collected during the first lockdown from 1st April 2020 to 30th May 2020. Using convenience sampling, young adults from Uttar Pradesh were recruited using social media. A total of 554 out of 600 participants responded on Google forms. The age range was 18-29 years (M = 23.8 years, S.D. = 2.59). Demographic details along with standardised loneliness measure (ULS-8) were administered.

Results - Findings revealed that the prevalence of loneliness was 30.3%. In the past 30 days, 33.6 % to 57% of respondents either sometimes or often felt lonely. Professional status, family type and living conditions during COVID-19 were risk factors for loneliness. Being alone/ social isolation during COVID-19 led to the highest levels of loneliness (47.8%) among young adults.

Conclusion - To the best of our knowledge, this is one of the first studies focusing on the loneliness of young adults during COVID-19 in India. The findings pertaining to the high prevalence of loneliness among young adults call for special attention to adults the youth's mental health during COVID-19. Limitations and future directions for studies are discussed.

Language: en