Understanding the protective roles of Indian joint families for children during the early phase of the COVID-19 pandemic (preprint)

The COVID-19 is exerting deleterious impacts on children. We intend to understand the protective roles of Indian joint families for the perceived life outcomes of children (9-12 years) during the early phase of the current pandemic. The qualitative study revealed six themes: perceived distress, the multiplicity of relationships, harmonious relationships, involvement in household activities, facilitating role of the elders, and collective values and practices. The uncertainty and fear enhanced the perceived distress of the family members and concerns for children. The abundant supportive relational resources, involvement in household activities, warmth, optimism and cooperation of the elderly and interdependence and religious practices were the resources described to protect the children from the pandemic’s ill-effects. Indian joint families adhere to collectivistic values which may have facilitated more support, cooperation, care, interdependence, discipline, cultural knowledge, and conflict resolution mechanisms. Integrity, emotional stability and care of the elderly may have significant protective forces. 

Vaccine hesitancy for coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 in North India (preprint)

With the roll-out of worlds largest vaccine drive for Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) by Government of India on January 16 2021, India has targeted to vaccinate its entire population by the end of year 2021. Struggling with vaccine procurement and production earlier, India came up with these hurdles but the Indian population still did not seem to be mobilizing swiftly towards vaccination centers. With the initial hesitancy, as soon as the vaccination started to speedup, India was hit severely by the second wave. The severe second wave has slowed down the vaccination pace and also it was one of the major contributing factor of vaccine hesitancy. To understand the nature of vaccine hesitancy and factors underlying it, we conducted an extensive online and offline surveys in Varanasi and adjoining regions using structured questions. Majority of respondents though were students (0.633), respondents from other occupations such as government officials (0.10) were also included in the study. We observed several intriguing opinions on our eleven questions. It is interesting to note that the majority of the people (0.75) relied on fake news and did not take COVID-19 seriously. Most importantly, we noticed that a substantial proportion of respondents (relative frequency 0.151; mean age 24.8 years) reported that they are still not interested in vaccination. People who have neither been vaccinated nor have ever been infected may become the medium for spreading the virus and creating new variants. This could also lead to a resistant variant of the vaccine in the future. We expect that this extensive survey may help the government to upgrade their vaccination policies for COVID-19 in North India.

COVID-19 and Young Peoples’ Worries and Emotions: Novel Data from India (preprint)

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has posed unprecedented stress to young people. Despite recent speculative suggestions of poorer well-being in young people in India since the start of the pandemic, there have been no systematic efforts to measure these. Here we report on the content of worries of Indian adolescents and identify groups of young people who may be particularly vulnerable to negative emotions.Methods: Three-hundred-and-ten young people from North India (51% male, 12-18 years) reported on their personal experiences of being infected by the coronavirus, the impact of the pandemic and its’ restrictions across life domains, qualitatively described their top worries, and quantitatively reported levels of negative affect and anhedonia.Findings: Most participants had no personal experience (97∙41%) or knew anyone (82∙58%) with COVID-19, yet endorsed moderate-to-severe impact of COVID-19 on their academics, social life, and work. Participants’ top worries focused on academic attainments, social and recreational activities, and physical health. More females than males worried about academic attainment and physical health while more males worried about social and recreational activities. The overall impact of COVID-19 associated with negative affect. Males and those from lower family income reported higher anhedonia.Interpretation: Indian adolescents report significant impact of the pandemic on various aspects of their life and are particularly worried about academic attainments, social and recreational activities and physical health. These findings call for a need to ensure provisions and access to digital education and medical care.Funding Statement: LR is funded by an ESRC grant to JYFL. TH is funded by Mental Health Research UK.Declaration of Interests: We declare no competing interests.Ethics Approval Statement: This study received approval from the Institutional Ethics Committee, Institute of Medical Sciences, Banaras Hindu University (Ref No.: Dean/2020/EC/1975) and King’s College London Research Ethics Committee (Ref: HR-19/20-18250).

The Effect of COVID-19 and Related Lockdown Phases on Young Peoples’ Worries and Emotions: A Longitudinal Indian Cohort (preprint)

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has posed unprecedented stress globally. Though less susceptible to severe forms of COVID-19 infection, young people too have suffered psychological impacts. As negative emotions and worries in adolescence can persist, incurring significant healthcare burden, measuring these during the pandemic can signpost later mental health needs particularly in low-resource settings. Here we report on experiences of coronavirus and its’ impact on negative emotions and worries in Indian adolescents. Methods: Three-hundred-and-ten young people from North India (51% male, 12-18 years) were recruited to a longitudinal online survey. At baseline, participants reported on their demographics, personal experiences and knowledge of others infected by the coronavirus, extent of social restrictions, the impact of the coronavirus on various life domains, their top three worries, and levels of negative affect and absence of positive affect (anhedonia). Findings: Most participants had no personal experience (97.41%) or knew anyone (82.58%) with COVID-19 yet endorsed moderate-to-severe impact of COVID-19 on their academic studies, social life, and work. Participants top three worries focused on academic attainments (7.82%), social and recreational activities (6.99%), and physical health (3.98%). More females than males worried about academic attainment and physical health while more males were worried about social and recreational activities. The impact of COVID-19 on social life, family relationship, physical health, emotions, and caring responsibilities associated with negative affect. Lower family income correlated with higher anhedonia as did the impact of COVID on physical health. Interpretation: Indian adolescents report significant impact of the pandemic on various aspects of their life and are particularly worried about academic attainments, social and recreational activities and physical health. These findings call for a need to ensure provisions and access to digital education and medical care. Funding: LR is funded by an ESRC grant to JYFL. TH is funded by Mental Health Research UK.Declaration of Interests: The authors declare no competing interests.Ethics Approval Statement: This study received approval from the Institutional Ethics Committee, Institute of Medical Sciences, Banaras Hindu University (Ref No.: Dean/2020/EC/1975) and King’s College London Research Ethics Committee (Ref: HR-19/20-18250).