The Role of Social Interactions in Mitigating Psychological Distress During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Study in Sri Lanka

TL;DR

This study investigates how social interactions and social media influenced mental health among Sri Lankan citizens during COVID-19, revealing contrasting effects based on social connectivity levels.

Contribution

It identifies distinct social connectivity subgroups and analyzes their mental health responses, highlighting social media's role as a coping mechanism during the pandemic.

Findings

Socially connected group had better mental health outcomes.

Socially reserved group experienced increased loneliness and decline in well-being.

Social media served as a substitute for social interactions and a coping tool.

Abstract

Massive changes in many aspects related to social groups of different socioeconomic backgrounds were caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and as a result, the overall state of mental health was severely affected globally. This study examined how the pandemic affected Sri Lankan citizens representing a range of socioeconomic backgrounds in terms of their mental health. The data used in this research was gathered from 3,020 households using a nationwide face-to-face survey, from which a processed dataset of 921 responses was considered for the final analysis. Four distinct factors were identified by factor analysis (FA) that was conducted and subsequently, the population was clustered using unsupervised clustering to determine which population subgroups were affected similarly. Two such subgroups were identified where the respective relationships to the retrieved principal factors and their demographics were thoroughly examined and interpreted. This resulted in the identification of contrasting perspectives between the two groups toward the maintenance and the state of social relationships during the pandemic, which revealed that one group was more 'socially connected' in nature resulting in their mental state being comparatively better in coping with the pandemic. The other group was seen to be more 'socially reserved' showing an opposite reaction toward social connections while their mental well-being declined showing symptoms such as loneliness, and emptiness in response to the pandemic. The study examined the role of social media, and it was observed that social media was perceived as a substitute for the lack of social connections or primarily used as a coping mechanism in response to the challenges of the pandemic