Search

© 2021 Shukla, Pandey, Singh, Riddleston, Hutchinson, Kumari and Lau. The COVID-19 pandemic has posed unprecedented stress to young people. Despite recent speculative suggestions of poorer mental health 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 along with reporting on the impact of coronavirus on their lives. 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, their top worries, social restrictions, and levels of negative affect and anhedonia. Findings showed that 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. These impacts in turn associated with negative affect. 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. Thus, 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.

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).

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).