COVID-19: A WAKE-UP CALL TO BUILD COMMUNITY RESILIENCE

Abstract

Community resilience refers to the collective ability of a neighbourhood or geographically defined area to deal with stressors and efficiently resume the rhythms of daily life through cooperation following shocks (Aldrich & Meyer 2015). Community resilience is prevalent in India since a long time and is manifested through its close-knit communities and social support systems despite a lack of awareness about it. The study was designed to examine the role of community resilience in psychological well-being of college students. The total sample consisted of 101 participants (ranging from 18-22 years) studying in either private or public educational institutions. Communities Advancing Resilience Toolkit (CART; Terrorism and Disaster Centre) and  Psychological Well-Being Scale (PWB; Ryff & Keyes, 1995) were used . In addition to this, the same set of participants were re-administered the google form with an additional COVID-19 questionnaire to study the prevalence and factors promoting community resilience and psychological well-being during the pandemic. The results were analysed using descriptive statistics (mean & standard deviation) and t test (independent & dependent). The findings indicated significant differences between the two groups (high vs. low community resilience) on psychological well-being where participants belonging to the high CR group reported better psychological well-being in comparison to those falling in the low CR category. The study also found significant differences in psychological well-being before and after the onset of pandemic but no significant differences were observed in community resilience of college students.