DETERMINANTS OF PSYCHOSOCIAL REACTIONS IN UNIVERSITY STUDENTS POST COVID-19:  A CROSS-SECTIONAL STUDY

Muqqadas Ghafoor; Mishal Khan Lodhi

doi:10.63050/jpps.20.04.288

Muqqadas Ghafoor University of Management and Technology
Mishal Khan Lodhi University of Management and Technology, Lahore, Pakistan

DOI: https://doi.org/10.63050/jpps.20.04.288

Keywords: Psychological Strength, Perceived Social Support, Psychosocial Reactions, university students, COVID-19.

Abstract

Objective: To identify the mediating role of Perceived Social Support in Psychological Strength and Psychosocial Reactions in university students post COVID-19.

Study Design: Cross-sectional (correlation) research design was used.

Place and Duration of study: The data was collected from November 2021 to January 2022 from different state and private universities in Lahore, Pakistan.

Subject and Method: The purposive sample of N=150 (men=70 and women=80) university students studying in first and last year of 18-24 years old (M=20.75, SD=1.76) were drawn from different public and private universities of Lahore. Data was collected using Psychological Strength Scale (PSS; Bashir, 2020), Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (MSPSS; Zimet et al., 19 88) and Psychosocial Reactions Scale (PRS; Mahmood et al., 2020). Data was analyzed using SPSS 25.

Results: Of the 150 participants, 70(46.7%) were men and 80(53.3%) were women. The overall mean age was 20.75 ± 1.76 years. Pearson Product Moment Correlation revealed that a significant negative relation of Psychological Strength and Perceived Social Support with Psychosocial Reactions. Psychological Strength and Perceived Social Support had positive significant relationship (r= .68***), but a negative relationship between Perceived Social Support and Psychosocial Reactions (r= -.56***) and Psychological Strength with Psychosocial Reactions (r= -.33***) was also found in university students post COVID-19. Mediation analysis showed that Perceived Social Support fully mediated the relation among Psychological Strength and Psychosocial Reactions (p<.001).

Conclusion: Study implicates that by increasing Psychological Strength and Perceived Social Support in university students we could reduce Psychosocial Reactions faced by them.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Author Biographies

Muqqadas Ghafoor, University of Management and Technology

Department of Applied Psychology, Lahore, Pakistan

Mishal Khan Lodhi, University of Management and Technology, Lahore, Pakistan

Department of Applied Psychology

References

Tariq S, Farooq M, Malik S. Psychological Experience of University Students in COVID-19 Lockdown: A Qualitative Research. Pakistan Social Sciences Review 2020;4(3): 807-823.

Ali AM, Ahmed A, Sharaf A, Kawakami N, Abdeldayem SM, Green J. The Arabic version of the depression anxiety stress scale-21: cumulative scaling and discriminant-validation testing. Asian Journal of Psychiatry 2017; (30):56–58.

Acharya L, Jin L, Collins W. College life is stressful today, emerging stressors and depressive symptoms in college students. Journal of American College Health 2018; (22):1–10.

Khezar H, Muhammad H. Impact of the COVID-19 outbreak on mental health status and associated factors among general population: a cross-sectional study from Pakistan. Psychology. Health & Medicine 2021; (1):5-7.

David S, María A, Robles N, Valencia N. Do psychological strengths protect college students confined by COVID-19 to emotional distress? The role of gender. Personality and Individual Differences 2021; 3(1):1-71.

Li Y, Cao H, Leung D. The Psychological Impacts of a COVID-19 Outbreak on College Students in China: A Longitudinal Study. International Journal of Environmental. Research and Public Health 2020; 17(11):39-33.

Ratelle CF, Simard K, Guay F. University students’ subjective well-being: the role of autonomy support from parents, friends, and the romantic partner. Journal of Happiness Studies 2013;14(3): 893–910.

Xing X. The influence of interpersonal relationships on school adaptation among Chinese university students during COVID-19 control period: Multiple mediating roles of social support and resilience. Journal of Affective Disorders 2021; (5):1-44.

Zhi Y. Resilience, Social Support, and Coping as Mediators between COVID-19-related Stressful Experiences and Acute Stress Disorder among College Students in China. Health and Well‐Being in the Early Stages of the Covid‐19 Pandemic: Insights from Applied Psychology 2020;12(4):1074-1094.

Eman G, Eman M, Doaa M, El-Nabgha F, Hassan E, Sarah A, Somaya A. Psychological impacts of COVID-19 pandemic on the university students in Egypt. Health Promotion International 2020; (14):1-13.

Swaminathan R, Ramesh P, Robert RP, Silvia C, Dellagiulia A, Joseph J. Perceived Social Support in University Students. A comparison between India and Italy. International Psychology Congress: Eastern and Western Psychology 2018; (4):1-96.

Padrón I, Fraga1 I, Vieitez L, Montes C, Romero E. A Study on the Psychological Wound of COVID-19 in University Students. Frontiers in Psychology 2021; (12):589-927.

Rahat E, İlhan T. Coping styles, social support, relational self-construal, and resilience in predicting students’ adjustment to university life. Educ. Sci. Theory and Practice 2016; (16):187–208.

Neşe Y. An Analysis of the Psychosocial Challenges Faced by the University Students During COVID-19 Pandemic, and the Students’ Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices Toward the Disease. Noro Psikiyatr Ars 2021;58(1):3–10.

Cosmas G. Psychological Support in Uplifting University Students’ Happiness in Fighting the Coronavirus Lockdown. Social psychology and group interaction Issue 2020; 2(1):31-42.

Martinez-Torteya C, Figge CJ, Ramírez Hernández LI, Treviño-de la Garza B. COVID-19 related psychosocial problems among university students in Mexico - a longitudinal qualitative examination. Front Public Health. 2023; 14(11)

Bashir U, Jabeen J. Psychological sequelae of COVID-19: The mediating role of family communication as a protective factor. J Aziz Fatm Med Den College, 2022; 4(2)

Zimet GD, Dahlem NW, Zimet SG, Farley GK. The multidimensional scale of perceived social support. J. Pers. Assess., 1988; 52,30–41.

Mahmood Z, Saleem S, Subhan S. Psychosocial Reactions of Pakistani Students Towards COVID-19: A Prevalence Study. Pak J Med Sci, 2021; 37(2): 456– 460.

AlSukayt A, Baloch G, Chinna K, Hossain FA, Khoshaim HB, Kamaludin K, Nurunnabi M, Sundarasen S. COVID-19: exploring impacts of the pandemic and lockdown on mental health of Pakistani students. PeerJ 2020;(9):10-612

Azhar M, Saleem S, Mahmood Z. Perceived Parenting and Distress Tolerance as Predictors of Mental Health Problems in University Students. J Res in Soc Sci 2020; 8(1):91–105.

Browning M, Mullenbach L. Psychological impacts from COVID-19 among university students: Risk factors across seven states in the United States. PLoS ONE 2021;16(1): 245-327.

Ayittey FK, Ayittey MK, Chiwero NB, Kamasah JS, Dzuvor C. Economic impacts of Wuhan 2019-nCoV on China and the world. Journal of Medical Virology 2020; (92):473–475.

Baloch G, Kamaludin K. Coping with COVID-19: The Strategies Adapted by Pakistani Students to Overcome Implications. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 2021;18(4):17-99.