This book focuses on the theoretical concepts of community psychology and its applications in day-to-day life. It discusses the challenges that adversely affect the welfare and well-being of common people and suggests community-centric, evidence-based measures to address them. Factors like new-age lifestyles, fast-paced development, and an increase in occurrence of natural calamities have been detrimental to the psychological well-being of the community. This volume integrates the social, cultural, economic, political, and environmental aspects of community psychology to address community life-based issues which include mental health stigma, social asymmetries, resource disparities, disadvantaged minority groups, the differently abled, HIV/AIDS patients, project-affected people, and disaster victims. Key features of this book include: Dedicated intervention-based chapters on mental health, physical health, differently abled people, the elderly, vulnerable children, HIV/AIDS patients, and people affected by development projects and disasters Focus on challenges faced by students and school-based family counselling Case studies and conceptual models for better understanding and application of the subject The volume will be a valuable resource to students, researchers, and teachers of Psychology, Social Work, Sociology, Public Health, and Social Economics. It will also be an indispensable read for social workers, NGOs, advocacy groups, and policymakers working in the field of social upliftment.
In the global crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, young professionals and graduating students experience considerable psychological adversity due to the uncertainty surrounding their futures. Given the positive psychological outcomes and the potential to alleviate stress, we examine the role of resilience and hope in causing a substantial variance in the stress response to anticipation of crisis among Indians living in India and Germany. Resilience, hope, crisis apprehension, and the psychological response to the COVID-19 pandemic were measured among participants from India and Germany (n = 650) via an online survey using non-probability convenient sampling. Parallel mediation and conditional indirect effects showcase the differential roles of resilience and hope among socio-culturally similar but geographically divergent groups. Hope mediates the effect of pandemic-led crisis apprehension on perceived stress among those residing in India; resilience operates to mitigate stress among those from Germany. Findings highlight the contradistinctive role of resilience and hope in reducing stress and imply an urgent need for promotion of ameliorative practices. Resilience effectively mitigates the psychological burden of the COVID-19 crisis and can be promoted to reskill individuals; however, elevating hope in a crisis obligates prudence.
COVID-19 adversely impacted the overall well-being of the youth like others. Perceived Quality of Life (QoL) is one of the determinants of the effective involvement of youth in their studies and career success. No Indian study reported on the QoL of youth. Given this background, the present study attempted to examine the perceived QoL of Indian Youth during 3rd year of COVID-19 pandemic and its association with their background, perceived stress, worries, online teaching mode and physical activities. Seven hypotheses were formulated for verification. Data were collected using a specially designed Structured Questionnaire and WHO QoL Questionnaire after ascertaining the face validity. A group of 334 youth aged between 21-24 participated in the online study (Mean age: 22.51; SD: 2.154). Findings disclosed that the overall QoL of 19.16% (64/334) of youth was poor, while it was average for 19.16% (64/334) and high for 20.7% (69/334) youth. However, male and female youth differed significantly with respect to physical QoL only (p < 0.000). The youth who perceived stress from attending continuous online classes and staying at home had lower scores in all four domains of QoL (p < 0.001). The findings also confirmed an association between worries about future careers and catching COVID-19 and QoL. The effectiveness of the online teaching mode and clarification of queries were positively associated with QoL (p < 0.001). Interestingly, social support from family members and friends and physical exercise were found to be stress relieving and reflected in overall improved QoL (p < 0.001). The study's findings talk about promoting physical activities and introducing institution-based mental health support facilities for the youth who lack support facilities.
The youth of North-East India are in disadvantaged situations as compared to youth from the rest of the country in all respects. The objective of this article was to examine the views of the NCC Officers of North-East states about youth welfare in the region as they have first-hand experience in dealing with youth. Participants' views were obtained on-line, by using a Semi-structured Questionnaire in the form of Google Form. A group of 142 NCC Officers provided feedback. Data collected were subjected to thematic analysis. Findings disclosed that youth of North-East states experience a range of challenges including poverty, lack of internet facilities, inability to attend NCC camps due to ongoing classes, substance dependence, lack of guidance and support leading to dropout and lack of values. The NCC Officers opined that a good number of North-East youths require mental health support and career guidance, in addition to mental health awareness.