Understanding the impact of COVID-19 on adolescents in India

Background: It has been six months since the first case of COVID-19 was reported in India. Since then, the focus has been on finding a cure to the disease. Largely neglected is the psychological impact of the pandemic on the adolescent population in the country. Methods: A hybrid combination of interviews and standardised questionnaires was used for data collection. The questionnaires were sent through an anonymous link on a social media platform to collect responses from July 4-8. The Impact of Events scale-Revised (IES-R) and Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support were used to assess the psychological impact and perceived social support. Results: Approximately, every four in five respondents had a significant psychological impact (IES score>24). Higher psychological impact was significantly associated with females, lower perceived social support, decreased sleep quality and a greater frequency of watching pandemic related news. Increased physical activity and time spent to relax predicted lower psychological impact. Conclusion: Approximately 81% of the adolescents surveyed had a significant psychological impact due to the pandemic which highlights the need of more longitudinal studies to be conducted on this age group. Urgent care and appropriate formulation of policies is needed to address the identified problems and to provide care to those in need.