The Moderating Role of Coping Strategies in Social Isolation and Internet Addiction amid Covid-19 Pandemic
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Abstract
The study investigated the moderating role of coping strategies in social isolation and internet addiction during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown. A total of 425 participants selected among residents of central quarters and through WhatsApp groups were used as samples for the study. The participants were between the ages of 25-35 years with a mean age of 38 years. Three instruments were used in the study are Brief Cope Inventory, the Internet Addiction Test and Social Network Scale. Three hypotheses were formulated. An ex-post facto/Survey research design was adopted while hierarchical regression statistics was adopted to test the hypothesis. Findings show a surge in internet addiction X= 60.1; Social isolation has a significant relationship with internet addiction during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown (β = .900, p˂.001); Coping strategies have no relationship with internet addiction during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown (β=.012, p>.05); Coping strategies has no significant relationship with social isolation during the COVID 19 pandemic lockdown r = .046, P> .05. Findings were discussed in relation with the literature review. Suggestions for further studies were also made.
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