The psychological impact of COVID-19 on young adults

Abstract

Covid-19 has caused a significant impact around the globe. It has caused serious damage to the mental health of young adults. India and other countries implemented nationwide lockdown to cure the virus. Psychological distress is a state of emotional suffering associated with stressors and demands that are difficult to cope with in daily life. Depression is a mood disorder that causes a persistent feeling of sadness and loss of interest. An emotion is a feeling such as happiness, love, fear, anger, or hatred, which can be caused by the situation that you are in or the people you are with. The current research is conducted to study emotions, psychological distress, and depression among young adults. The lockdown has resulted in many challenges for young adults. The study was conducted on 103 young adults (59 females and 44 males) aged: 18-25 years. Standardized measures of psychological distress, emotions, and depression were used on the participants. The study revealed a negative correlation between positive emotions and psychological distress, a positive correlation between negative emotions and psychological distress, a positive correlation between depression and psychological distress, and a positive correlation between depression and negative emotions. The results also show that the males are higher than females in positive emotions but there is no gender difference in negative emotions, psychological distress & depression. The study suggests that there is a need to expand mental health services among the individuals during the pandemic as well as a need to relax and maintain a proper schedule to avoid the negative impact of the lockdown.