Impact of Covid-19 on Psychological Distress and Coping Mechanisms Among School-Going Adolescents in India

Abstract

Background: Stress is an important health alarm. The early years of the adolescent’s obvious rapid changes in bodily, thought and emotional level. During the adolescent phase, the schoolchildren face various problems such as the high anticipation of family members related to learning, family tensions and continuing relations with classmates. The techniques an adolescent has to cope with stressors have major short and long term consequences on their emotional and psychical health. The differences found that girls were looking for more support and usually focus on their work as compare to boys. Aim: Aim of the study was health to assess the perceived stress and ways of coping among school-going adolescents. Methodology: A cross-sectional comparative study design was used. Simple random sampling was applied to select the sample. A total of 240 school-going adolescents (120 Male and 120 Female) were selected from rural and urban schools in Kurukshetra (Haryana). Data were obtained using a socio-demographic datasheet. Result: Most school-going adolescents face several stresses and they adopt various coping strategies to cope with this stress. The most frequently used coping strategies by the adolescents were positive reframing, planning, active coping, and instrumental support, talking to others, avoiding the situation. Conclusion: school-going adolescents can understand the basic impacts of stress on their mental health. School going adolescents’ understanding of stress can help to develop awareness and positive coping.