Loneliness and Problematic internet use in Union territory of Kashmir during Covid 19 lock-down
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Abstract
The year 2020 was memorable and nostalgic due to the pandemic of covid 19.With no vaccine or medicine available, the only ways to protect oneself and control the spread of virus as per WHO were social distancing, lockdown and Quarantine. Most of the countries acted quickly and implemented strict lock-down. India was not an exception. Union territory of Kashmir being one of the part of this country, the measures of lock-down and quarantine was also implemented here. While as most of the studies were done to know the impact of social isolation and quarantine on mental health of the inhabitants, the present research was done to understand loneliness and problematic internet use in union territory of Kashmir during covid 19 lock-down. The current study used cross sectional survey method. A sample of 200 participants each above 18 years of age were selected randomly from concerned union territory of Kashmir. The information was collected from them using short form of revised UCAL loneliness scale and internet addiction test. An association was found using regression analysis between loneliness and (1) Problematic internet use (PIU) (2) Hours spend on internet (3) Age (4) The quality of relationship with people they were spending during lock-down period with (5) Frequency of news about pandemic they heard from social media. It was also found that problematic internet use (PIU) was associated with loneliness and its predictors. A dose response was found between PIU and predictors of loneliness using ANOVA. The current study highlights the influence of local culture on loneliness and problematic internet use (PUI) during covid 19 lock-down in the union territory of Kashmir.
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