Mental Health Status of Children during Late Adolescence from Ernakulam District, Kerala in the Pandemic Era

Author Dhanya N
Co-Author Aishwarya Mohan
DOI http://wwj

Country : India
Subject : Home Science

Keywords : Mental health, late adolescents, COVID Pandemic, Lockdown

Abstract

Background: COVID pandemic had created a huge havoc in the lives of citizens all over the world. Adolescence being the most sensitive period in an individual’s life, is the most affected stage. School and college lock down had led to social isolation and media addiction among teenagers, all leading to poor mental health. Furthermore, the terrifying news of COVID-19 spread all over the social media have deteriorated the mental health status of the youth. The cases of depression and suicide rates among the youth population has increased from the onset of pandemic. Hence, the study is an attempt to determine the mental health status of the teenagers of Ernakulum, thereby strategies to cope up with this situation can be formulated and made into practice.

Objectives
• To study the prevalence of various mental health issues among adolescents.
• To explore the symptoms of various mental health issues among adolescents.
• To assess the impact of COVID 19 upon the mental health of youngsters.

Methodology
• The area selected for the present study was Ernakulam city, which is a city in Kerala.
• The sample consists of 225 adolescents between the age group of 18 to 20 years from different areas of Ernakulam city. Adolescents were chosen randomly from different parts of Ernakulam via Google forms.
• A self- designed questionnaire was distributed via Google form to elicit information regarding the mental health status of the youth.
• Data collected from the study, was tabulated, consolidated and analysed using percentage analysis.

Results: It is evident from the study that a noticeable amount of the adolescents had mental health issues due to various problems including peer pressure, academic pressure, parental conflicts, divorce, family background, social media and lockdown.

Conclusion: As the results indicates, COVID pandemic had made the teenagers feel unsafe, anxious and depressed. It is very important for the family and school/college to join hands together and keep an eye on the growth and development of the adolescent, spent time with them and provide them with confidence to share their issues and viewpoints with them.

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