Students in Pandemic: A Preliminary Study on Anxiety, Stress & Depression with Sociodemographic Variables

Schools and colleges all over the world had been closed due to the spread of COVID 19, restricting students to their residence and online education. The present scenario is for sure something students are not very comfortable with. Additionally, many colleges and universities are still indecisive about the yearly exams and commencement of a new session. It is likely that these factors affect the mental health of the students. The present study is a preliminary study on students (N=79) between the age range of 18 to 28 years (M = 21.62; S.D. =1.88) using snowball sampling technique aimed to explore if mindfulness helps in combating anxiety, stress, and depression. The results show that students who reported practicing mindfulness meditation perceived themselves as less susceptible to COVID 19 threat. The results also indicate that students who practice mindfulness significantly differ from those who do not and are less likely to experience mild (χ2 = 8.166; p= 0.01) levels of stress. When someone the participant knew required treatment significant difference was found in people who reported severe levels of stress (χ2 =, p= 0.00). Moreover, significant differences in severe level of stress (χ2 = 4.162; p= 0.04) was found in work from home situation. Lockdown has definitely affected mental health but this study is preliminary in nature and has a small sample size. More studies with a larger sample size are needed to explore the effects of COVID-19 and lockdown on student’s mental health.