Fear of COVID-19, psychological distress, well-being and life satisfaction: A comparative study on first and second waves of COVID-19 among college students in India

Abstract

The aim of the study is to examine the relationship of fear of COVID-19 with well-being and life satisfaction through psychological distress among the college students in India. The study was conducted in two waves of the pandemic—during first and second waves of the COVID-19 among college students. A survey was conducted among 768 and 884 students in first and second waves of COVID-19 respectively for this purpose. Structural equation modeling was used to analyze the data. The study found out that the fear of COVID-19 positively related to psychological distress and negatively to well-being and life satisfaction and the effects were stronger in second wave. Also, the psychological distress mediates the relationship between fear of COVID-19 with well-being and life satisfaction, and the relationships were stronger during second wave. Proper coping strategies and mechanisms can be helpful to overcome the difficulties of such situation.

Impact of negative emotions on financial behavior: An assessment through general strain theory

“…The second hypothesis (H1b) is confirmed that economic hardship results in increasing individuals' depression levels in post-COVID-19 period in India as the P-value and β are equal to 0.0023 and 0.1678, respectively. To add more, the findings of our current study support the works of (Lathabhavan, 2022;Mekala et al, 2022). It means a positive relationship exists between individual depression levels and post-COVID-19 in the sec-ond wave.…”

Psychological Adjustment Profiles of LGBTQ+ Young Adults Residing with Their Parents during the COVID-19 Pandemic: An International Study

“…In contrast, COVID-19 infection rates were starting to decrease across Europe [ 36 ]. In a longitudinal study with college students, Lathabhavan [ 72 ] also found a decrease in the indicators of positive adjustment as the number of deaths and infections worsened. It is also important to highlight that the socioeconomic challenges faced by many participants in South America cannot be neglected in the interpretation.…”

Student adjustment during Covid-19 pandemic: Exploring the moderating role of university support

“…References [ 56 , 60 ] found fear of CoV19 among students to have resulted in greater fear of colleagues within their social network, social isolation, and academic-related pain due to the radical change from conversional methods of learning to online learning. Finally, another apprehension of fear of Cov19 among students is the fear of missing out on significant and meaningful social experiences [ 61 , 62 ], which reduce life satisfaction [ 63 ].…”