Social Networking Usage, Psychological Distress and Happiness among Young Adults during COVID 19 Pandemic

Background: The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak has wreaked havoc throughout the world, impacting millions of people physically and mentally. Interpersonal connections are confined to social networks during the pandemic. However, there has been a dearth of research focusing on social networking usage during COVID-19 in particular. As a result, it is currently unclear whether and how utilizing social networks during epidemic is linked to mental health. The present paper examines the relationship between social networking usage among youngsters and its impact, like the psychological distress and happiness during the COVID-19 epidemic. Furthermore, because young adults are frequent users of social media, it is important to study the effects of social networking usage in this age group. Methodology: An online survey of a sample of 316 young adults was carried out using Social Networking Sites Usage and Needs Scale, Depression Anxiety Stress Scale (DASS -21) and Oxford Happiness Scale. Results: The results show that females were happier than males. Further, the number of social networks used was negatively correlated with happiness. Personal integrative needs were found to be a positive predictor of psychological distress. The implications of the findings are elaborately discussed. Conclusions:

Stress Resilience among caregivers of patients with mental illness during Covid 19 pandemic

Background: COVID 19 has brought daily life to a standstill for almost all population across the world. The pandemic is a source of unexpected stress. The pandemic is causing huge pressures on all people. Resilience can help us to get through and overcome stressful hardship. Methodology: The present qualitative descriptive study conducted among caregivers of patients with mental illness at the inpatient and outpatient department of Amrita Institute of Medical Sciences, Kochi. The main objective of the study was to determine the level of stress resilience among caregivers of patients with mental illness. Secondary objectives were to find association of level of stress resilience among caregivers with various mental illness and to find the association of level of stress resilience and selected demographic characteristics. Tools used for data collection are Demographic data collection tool and Connor Davidson Stress Resilience scale. Totally 132 samples were collected using purposive sampling technique. Results: 4.54% of the respondents scores between 26 -50 points (first intermediate resilience), 53.78% of respondents scores between 51 -75 points (second intermediate resilience) and 41.66 % of respondents scores between 76- 100 points (highest resilience). None of the respondents shows lowest resilience (0-25 points). The study results reveal that most of the respondents shows second intermediate resilience towards stress. Conclusion: The study arouses a need for adopting coping strategies to improve the quality of life of caregivers. For improving the resilience, interventions like stress coping skill training or counseling services can be adopted.