Mental wellbeing of youth in Nagaland during the COVID-19 pandemic: Is there any change post the pandemic?

This study was carried out to see the presence of mental wellbeing in terms of positive feelings and positive functioning among the youth in Nagaland during the COVID-19 pandemic and also examine differences in wellbeing during COVID-19 pandemic and post the pandemic. An internet-based survey was conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic using the Mental Health Continuum-Short Form (MHC-SF) to which 357 youth in the age range of 15 to 36 years responded. In a follow-up study post-pandemic, 32 of these youth responded to the same questionnaire. Result from the first phase of the study during the pandemic showed that a total of 34.2% of participants were flourishing, almost a quarter of the participants were found to be languishing(21.6%) and nearly half of the participants (44.3%) had moderate mental health. Chi-Square tests revealed that gender, education and employment status were found to have significant relationships with mental wellbeing. Paired-sample t-test indicated that the mean MHC scores during pandemic and post pandemic were not significantly different (p>.05). The discussion of the findings of the study is done in the context of the related literature and the cultural background of the participants.