C.M. Selvamuthu, Assistant Professor, Saveetha School of Law, SIMATS, Chennai, Tamil Nadu
ABSTRACT
The COVID-19 pandemic has had a big impact on everyday functioning, considerable measures being taken to scale back the spread of the virus. Schools and social avenues are placed on prolonged lockdowns, with people continuing to take care of physical distance. Adolescents and children have had to endure significant stress alongside handling developmental characteristics. Amidst all of this, studies report a rise in gam-ing addiction and internet use with detrimental impact on psychosocial well-being. The aim of this study was to look at the impact of lockdown on internet use in adolescents, comparing their habits from before the pandemic. Furthermore, this research aimed to research the connection be- tween gaming addiction, internet use and COVID-19 worries. Adolescents from several countries (e.g., India, Malaysia, Mexico and therefore the UK) completed online questionnaires, shared via social media and youth networks. These measures included questions on the internet, social media, gaming, depression, loneliness, escapism and COVID-19. Results show that adolescents generally have increased their use of social media sites and streaming services. Further, those that scored highly on gaming addiction, compulsive internet use and social media use also reported high many depression, loneliness, escapism, poor sleep quality and anxiety associated with the pandemic. The research method followed here is an empirical research. A total of 200 samples have been taken out of which is taken through a convenient sampling method. The independent variable taken here is age, name, qualification and gender. The dependent variables are to make people aware about the impact of internet use during COVID lock down. The statistical tools used by the researcher are correlation analysis and graphical representation. Our findings indicate that, no matter country of residence, the COVID-19 outbreak has had a big effect on adolescent internet use and psychosocial well-being. the necessity to deal with pandemic related distress to scale back the effect of maladaptive coping strategies is highlighted.
Keywords: Internet use, gaming addiction, social media, depression, adolescents, COVID-19.
