An Article on Mental Health among Students during the Pandemic

Ishan from Grade 12 was published in the September 2021 issue of the 'International Journal of Scientific Research in Engineering and Management'. The article, titled ‘Effect of Virtual Lifestyle during COVID-19 Pandemic on Student Mental Health', uses a mix of quantitative and qualitative research methods to explore the impact of social isolation on people and their daily lives. We reached out to Ishan to find out more about his paper, and potential ambitions for the future.  

Me and my sister felt the impact of this virtual lifestyle first-hand as we saw our physical and mental health deteriorate – Ishan, Grade 12 

Throughout its existence, the COVID-19 pandemic has had a profound impact on the student community. Repeated and long-term lockdowns have confined students to homes, accompanied by less physical and outdoor activities, as well as increased communications through digital platforms. "The reason I started this research is to find out how widespread these issues are, how students are coping with them and how can parents and teachers help the student community”, says Ishan, who sees understanding the effects of our virtual lifestyles on mental health as a relevant topic. 

Applying quantitative and qualitative approaches during his research, Ishan started by collecting surveyed data from students between 13-18 years old, from various schools in India. This helped him understand the scale and identify the physical and psychological effects on students. To broaden and deepen the survey results, Ishan carried out interviews with participants, and after conducting a qualitative analysis he found an better understanding of the causes and possible remedies to student mental health during this pandemic. 

Although successful, Ishan found some major challenges while conducting his research. Reaching students from different schools across India to take part in the study. “This was overcome through social media and outreach through friends and family”, says Ishan, whose survey also asked some uncomfortable and personal questions about topics, such as student's mental health and family background. This was overcome by assuring confidentiality and anonymity of the participants. Even more difficult was to find willing participants to conduct one-on-one interviews. “It took quite some persuasion and convincing to the survey participants to willingly discuss and share their thoughts on this subject.” 

Ishan feels that understanding and monitoring student mental health should be a continuous process that schools should do through, for example, student counselors. “This will help the student community tremendously by embracing preventing measures as opposed to reactive measures”, says Ishan, who is planning on sharing and presenting his findings at TISB and then in other schools, as well as with parents through virtual forums. “An Android App called "Moodify" is developed for students to self-assess their mental health and increase self-awareness", explains Ishan, who would like to develop an iOS version for iPhone users, to complement the current Google Play app available. 

To find out more about the research, the results found and suggested areas of applications of the research, download the paper here:

Effect of Virtual Lifestyle during COVID-19 Pandemic on Student Mental Health