THE IMPACT OF THE PANDEMIC ON SOCIAL-EMOTIONAL LIFE OF YOUNG ADULTS: AN EXPLORATORY STUDY

Abstract

"The SARS-Cov-2 coronavirus and COVID-19 pandemic has disordered peoples’ everyday life due to the extended measures of transmission restriction. For “young adults”, that is for people in the age range between 19-24, the impact of pandemic may be of greater importance, given that this early years of adulthood is a critical stepstone for their further social and emotional development. Thus, it is interesting to focus on them during those hard times. The aim of the study was to investigate the views of young adults, firstly, on their social life and its disruption due to the coronavirus and, secondly, on their emotional life. In this context, a quantitative research has been conducted based on a questionnaire, that has been designed by the research team. The questionnaire included 37 questions (likert, open ended, and multiple choice). The study was conducted via internet and in total 285 young individuals have participated. Regarding the main results of our study, it was found that watching movies seem to have a positive effect in help passing time and coping with boredom. Regarding the impact of pandemic on participants’ emotional life, it was found that during lockdown, fear -specifically fear for the future and fear for their beloved ones- was the feeling mainly experienced by the young adults. It is notable that after the lockdown the fear of the future and the fear for the beloved ones is still a dominant feeling. Moreover, it was found that social and emotional impact go hand by hand. Specifically, it was also found that, controlling for age effect, participants’ after lockdown feelings such as stress, sorrow and fear for their beloved were associated to whether entered University before or during pandemic. A holistic view of social and emotional impact of pandemic, challenges emerged for young adults who faced extended restrictions and implications of our results will be discussed."