Depression and Anger during Covid-19 Pandemic as Correlate of Psychosocial Maladjustment of Secondary School Students in Imo State, Nigeria

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic upended educational systems worldwide and posed profound psychological challenges for students. Parents became stuck at home with their young adults and adolescents, who had begun to manage their own life affairs and looking forward to finishing school and advance to the next level of life’s prospects and dreams. The sphere of social space and interactions for these young people shrunk dramatically and drastically. The lock down imposed on all fabrics of society had no imminent time frame. Frustration, depression and anger mounted on families from all fronts. Live began to drift to uncomfortable new-normal. It was in the midst of the new-normal of face-masking, hand washing and sanitizing rituals, social distancing, among others that schools reopened to even new academic procedures like virtual classrooms. To what extent could the possible emotional distress of depression and anger of junior secondary school students be related to their psychosocial maladjustment in the midst of COVID-19, pandemic became the burden to the researcher. This study therefore, investigated the relationship between emotional distress of anger and depression on psychosocial maladjustment of junior secondary students in Imo state, Nigeria, during the COVID-19 pandemic. The study design was a survey. A sample of 400 junior secondary students were randomly selected from sixteen junior secondary schools out of all junior secondary schools in the state. Two self-made instruments titled: "COVID-19 Emotional Distress Scale (CEDS)" and "Psychosocial Adjustment Scale (PAS)" were used to collect data. COVID-19 Emotional Distress Scale was calibrated on a four-point scale of Very High Extent (VHE =4 points), High Extent (HE= 3 points), Low Extent (LE= 2 points) and Very Low Extent (VLE =1 point). The data collected from the study was analyzed using Pearson Product Moment Correlation. Results show that Depression and anger related positively and insignificantly with psychosocial maladjustment of public junior secondary school students during COVID-19 pandemic in Imo State.