Depression, anxiety and their relationship with personality traits: a study during COVID-19 lockdown

Aim: To study the relationship of depression, anxiety with personality traits during the period of lockdown due to Covid-19. Methods and Materials: Descriptive cross-sectional research study design was used. A total of 137 college going students from different departments were recruited by snow ball sampling technique, respondents were assessed on different variables using standard tools via google forms and thus data obtained was analyzed by descriptive statistics using SPSS. Results: Trait of Neuroticism was found to have a strong and positive correlation with depression and state anxiety whereas the trait of extraversion and conscientiousness showed a weak and negative correlation with depression and anxiety. The trait of openness has a weak but positive correlation with depression also the state anxiety is strongly correlated with depression. Conclusion: The respondents with high scores on the traits of neuroticism experience higher anxiety and depression. The individuals who are experiencing high anxiety presently during the coronavirus lockdown are also experiencing high depression symptoms.