Lonely at Home: Exploring Factors Associated with Loneliness Among Female Students at Home During COVID-19 Lockdown in India

Abstract

The present study explores loneliness among female students who stayed at home during the COVID-19 lockdown. Recent research has shown a sharp rise in the self-reported incidences of loneliness, especially among females during the lockdown imposed in most regions around the globe. The studies have also shown that those with lower self-control and a negative self-image are more vulnerable to negative emotional and behavioral outcomes. Therefore, it would be interesting to see how are these aspects related to loneliness among young females that too in a patriarchal society such as India. Whether family dynamics have any impact on mitigating loneliness or not has also been investigated. For this purpose, an online survey was conducted on 1023 female students of various universities/colleges across India. The results show that loneliness is found less among the females who showed better self-control, positive self-image, and good family relationship. Though household work engagement can keep females busy, it has little to do with their feeling of loneliness. The study indicates that living with family members is not enough to deal with loneliness. Rather it requires a good relationship with family members, self-control, and a positive self-image. Hence, to deal with the loneliness issues that youth are facing at present, family connectedness and constructive self-view need to be (re)established to prevent loneliness from causing severe mental problems.