To Assess Anxiety and Phobia in Female College Going Students for Resuming College after Covid-19 Confinement: A Pilot Study

Abstract

The pandemic is causing people to feel anxious, distressed, or worried due to fear of contracting the virus, isolationand quarantine measures, and fear of a long-term impact of the global disruption.Aim/Objective: The aim of this study is asses fear/anxiety and avoidance in female hostel students for resumingcollege after COVID-19 confinement.Methods: The study included 30 college going female hostel students between ages 20-25 years. Participants wasassessed for level of anxiety and phobia on 24 items Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale. Analysis of data was doneusing independent sample test.Results: Mean and standard deviation for fear/anxiety, avoidance and total scores were (31.9 ± 6.38), (32.3 ± 7.86)and (64.2 ± 10.35) respectively. Fear/Anxiety and Total Scores reflects P Value ≤ 0.05 which is highly significant.Conclusions: It was found Total of 30 subjects were taken out of which 70% were moderate, 13% were markedand 17% were severe anxiety/phobia. After 2.5 years of confinement, data revealed that maximum level werefalling in moderate social anxiety followed by marked, whereas severe social anxiety were the least scorers. Soit is aforesaid that above levels are falling in clinically significant ranges. Being Occupational Therapist, they allrequire treatment approach in form of counselling, creating and joining the group dynamics physically. Relaxationtechnology, deep breathing exercise, visual imagery can be helpful in the above.