ASSESSMENT OF THE EFFECT OF SOCIAL MEDIA USAGE AND COVID-19 PANDEMIC NEWS UPDATES ON THE MENTAL WELL-BEING OF STUDENTS DURING THE LOCKDOWN IN INDIA

Abstract

As a result of the Lockdown imposed by the Government of India, social media usage has considerably increased among students. A constant urge to keep oneself updated with the news regarding the pandemic has also been observed, which has inevitably led to students getting exposed to a constant stream of negative news. To investigate the effect of the time spent on social media and the time spent self-updating on news related to the COVID-19 pandemic on the mental well-being of 138 undergraduate college students, aged 18 to 24. A voluntary online questionnaire using the Affectometer 2 scale was used during the 5th week of the lockdown. We found a strong negative correlation between the time spent on social media and the mental well-being of students, while no statistically significant correlation between the time spent self-updating on COVID-19 related news and mental well-being was found. It is important that students use social media in moderation and find alternative avenues for recreation, to prevent unnecessary stress and potential adverse effects on their mental health, and thus maintain their psychological well-being.