ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: COVID-19 pandemic resulted in lockdown affecting all businesses globally. Everyone was forced to work from home (WFH) leading to challenges in productivity and motivation. METHODOLOGY: One thousand working professionals who worked from home participated in the online survey with semi-structured questionnaire using nonprobability Snowball sampling technique. Descriptive statistics was used to analyze the findings and to collect data method. RESULTS: Participants were asked about their biggest worries during lockdown COVID-19 situation and their biggest worry was infection to COVID-19/death. Professionals were asked whether they were affected or not affected due to "WFH" in COVID situation. The questionnaire items were clubbed into six major categories of job role overload, lifestyle choices, family distraction, occupational discomfort, job performance, and distress, and majority categories were affected. CONCLUSION: Thus, it is observed that the increase in work commitments leads to distress among employees while distractions from family members disrupt the quality of work. While good job performance contributes to life satisfaction, distress significantly diminished it. This paves the way for more studies to be done on work-life balance under WFH arrangements for as long as the pandemic of COVID-19 is prevalent.
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Student psychological health has been an increasing concern. The COVID-19 pandemic situation has brought this vulnerable population into renewed focus. OBJECTIVE: Our study aims to conduct a timely assessment of the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the mental health of college graduates and postgraduates. METHODOLOGY: We conducted online survey with 550 students to understand the effects of the pandemic on their psychology and well-being. The data were analyzed through quantitative and qualitative methods. RESULTS: Of the 550 students, 138 (71%) indicated increased stress and anxiety due to the COVID-19 outbreak. When asked about how the lockdown in COVID-19 situation affecting them, 97% said that it is severely affecting them. When asked about what the problems do you faced during online class, 5% said the Internet, 83.8% said noninteractive, and 11.2% said lack of explanatory mediums. When asked about number of hours spent on the Internet, 100% said more than 10 h. When asked about the activities to keep yourself busy during lockdown in COVID-19 situation, 37% said social media followed by 23% who mentioned cooking. CONCLUSION: Due to the long-lasting pandemic situation and onerous measures such as lockdown and stay-at-home orders, the COVID-19 pandemic brings negative impacts on education. The findings of our study highlight the urgent need to develop interventions and preventive strategies to address the psychological health of college students.