Role of Social Support in Handling Loneliness among Male and Female Adolescents during the COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

COVID-19 has created fear and anxiety among every member of the society. It has shaken everyone including adolescents who often think they are invincible. Due to the pandemic adolescents were forced to go into social isolation and the subsequent lockdown has kept them indoors. This kind of lockdown has deprived adolescents to meet their friends or take part in social activities. In moment of crisis, social support becomes very crucial to fight loneliness. The aim of the study was to assess the role of social support in handling loneliness among male and female adolescents during the pandemic. The sample comprised of 369 which included male and female adolescents. Data was collected using convenient sampling technique. The instruments used were UCLA Loneliness Scale by Russell, Peplau and Ferguson, (1978) and Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support by Zimet, Dahlem, Zimet and Farley, (1988). Demographic data was gathered by using Google form. By using Pearson’s Product Correlation, a negative correlation was found between social support and loneliness (-0.464) and through Chi Square method a significant difference was found between social support and birth order (8.774 and the obtained value was .067 which was significant at 0.05 level of significance, (p