THE IMPACT OF COVID-19 ON SOCIAL CONNECTEDNESS: LEARNING FROM STUDENTS' EXPERIENCES IN PRESBYTERIAN SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL, ABETIFI, GHANA

Felix Oppusu Paapa Agyiri, Stephen Kwabena Asaah-Junior, Beatrice Benewaa, Collins Appiah

Abstract


The spread of the COVID-19 pandemic has profoundly altered how we interact with one another. The novel COVID-19 pandemic that peaked in 2020 led to protocols that reduced social contact and relationships. When schools closed, students had less time to talk to each other, hurting their friendships and ability to learn. This study examined the impact of COVID-19 on Abetifi Presbyterian SHS students' social connectedness just after the easing of the lockdown restrictions. The study adopted a qualitative research methodology with an interpretivist viewpoint encapsulated within the inductive epistemological framework. Purposive and convenience sampling techniques were employed to interview 40 students (SHS 1, 2, and 3). According to the findings of the study, COVID-19 made it more difficult for students to have social contact, making learning more difficult. The study further revealed that the closure of schools for several months limited students' close ties and social relationships. The study also indicated that peer connections and interactions had become weaker and more strained during the peak season of COVID-19. The findings have ramifications for managing COVID-19 and future pandemics and understanding social relationships amongst social actors. Educational governing authorities like the Ministry of Education and the Ghana Education Service should maintain educational programmes that seek to rebuild social bonds damaged by pandemics.

 

Article visualizations:

Hit counter


Keywords


social connectedness, COVID-19 pandemic, social relationships, lockdown, social isolation

Full Text:

PDF

References


Ababio, M. (2020, March 28). President’s address to the nation. Daily Graphic, p.7.

Alcayna-Stevens, L. (2018). Planning for post-Ebola - lessons learned from DR Congo’s 9th Epidemic. UNICEF.

Algunmeeyn, A., El-Dahiyat, F., Altakhineh, M. M., Azab, M., & Babar, Z.-U.-D. (2020). Understanding the factors influencing healthcare providers’ burnout during the outbreak of COVID-19 in Jordanian hospitals. Journal of Pharmaceutical Policy and Practice, 13(1), 1–8.

Al-Samarrai, S., Gangwar, M., & Gala, P. (2020). The impact of the covid-19 pandemic on education financing. World Bank: Washington, DC.

Amara, M. M., Tommy, F., & Kamara, A. H. (2017). Sierra Leone 2015 population and housing census - Thematic report on the socio-economic impact of the Ebola Virus disease statistics. Sierra Leone. https://sierraleone.unfpa.org/sites/default/files/pubpdf/EVD%20report.pdf

Armstrong, B. F., Nitschke, J. P, Bilash, U., & Zuroff, D. C. (2020). An affect in its own right: Investigating the relationship of social safeness with positive and negative affect. Personality and Individua Differences. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2019.109670

B.B.C. News (2020). Coronavirus confirmed as pandemic by World Health Organization. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-51839944. Accessed March 23 2021.

Bambra, C., Riordan, R., Ford, J., et al. (2020). The COVID-19 pandemic and health inequalities. Journal of Epidemiology Community Health, 74:964–8.

Barua, L., Zaman, M. S., Omi, F. R., & Faruque, M. (2020). Psychological burden of the COVID-19 pandemic and its associated factors among frontline doctors of Bangladesh: A cross-sectional study. F1000 Research, 9, 1304.

Becker, C., Kirchmaier, I., and Trautmann, S. T. (2019). Marriage, parenthood and social network: Subjective well-being & mental health in old age. PLoS One 14, e0218704. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0218704

Benewaa, B., Agyiri O. P. F., & Asaah-Junior, K. S. (2022). The impact of COVID-19 on social interaction in families in Abetifi in the Kwahu East District, Ghana. European Journal of Social Sciences Studies, 7(3), 90 – 107.

Berg, B. (2004). Quantitative research methods for the social sciences (5th ed.). Boston: Allyn and Bacon.

Britten, N. (1998). Qualitative research: qualitative interviews in medical research. BMJ, 311(6999), 251–3.

Bronfenbrenner, U. (2006). The ecology of human development: Experiments by nature and design. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press

Calnan, M., Gadsby, E. W., Kondé, M. K., Diallo, A., & Rossman, J. S. (2018). The response to and impact of the Ebola epidemic: Towards an agenda for interdisciplinary research. International Journal of Health Policy and Management, 7(5), 402 – 411.

Cassidy, J., & Shaver, P. R. (2016). Handbook of attachment: Theory, research and clinical applications. (3rd Ed). Guilford Press.

Cohen, L., Manion, L., & Morrison, K. (2018). Research methods in education (8th ed.). New York: Routledge.

Connidis, I. A., & Barnett, A. (2018). Family ties and ageing. London: Sage

Etikan, I., Musa, S. A., & Alkassim, R. S. (2016). Comparison of convenience sampling and purposive sampling. American journal of theoretical applied statistics, 5(1), 1 – 4.

Fancourt, D. et al. (2020). Covid-19 social study: Results release 16. UCL.

Gates, B. (2020). Responding to Covid-19 — A Once-in-a-Century Pandemic? The New England Journal of Medicine, DOI: 10.1056/NEJMp2003762.

George, M., Slavich, L., Roos, G., & Zaki, J. (2022) Social belonging, compassion, and kindness: Key ingredients for fostering resilience, recovery, and growth from the COVID-19 pandemic. Anxiety, Stress & Coping, 35(1), 1 – 8.

Golics, C. J., Basra, M. K. A., Finlay, A. Y. & Salek, S. (2013). The impact of diseases on family members: A critical aspect of medical care. Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine, 106(10), 399 – 407.

Gouveia, R., Ramos, V., & Wall, K. (2021). Household diversity and the impacts of covid-19 on families in Portugal. Front. Sociol. 6 (736714).

Green, J., & Thorogood, N. (2004). Qualitative methods for health research. London: Sage.

Hagaman, A. K., & Wutich, A. (2017). How many interviews are enough to identify meta-themes in multi-sited and cross-cultural research? Another perspective on guest, Bunce, and Johnson’s (2006) landmark study. Field Methods, 29(1), 23–41.

Hawkley, L. C., & Cacioppo, J. T. (2010). Loneliness matters: A theoretical and empirical review of consequences and mechanisms. Annals of Behavioral Medicine, 40(2), 218–227.

Hennink, M. M., Kaiser, B. N., & Marconi, V. C. (2017). Code saturation versus meaning saturation: how many interviews are enough? Qual. Health Res.27(4), 591–608.

Ignatow, G., Poulin, M., Hunter, C., & Comeau, J. (2013). Race and reciprocity: Inter-household Exchanges in a Multiracial Neighborhood. Sociology Forum. 28, 51–69.

Jones, S. R. (2002). Re-writing the word: Methodological strategies and issues in qualitative research. Journal of College Student Development, 43(4), 461 – 474.

Kelly, A. C., Dupasquier, J. (2016). Social safeness mediates the relationship between recalled parental warmth and the capacity for self-compassion and receiving compassion. Personality and Individual Differences. 2016; 89:157–161.

Kuranchie, A. (2021). Research made easy. Kumasi: Bookworm Publications.

Lamoure, G., & Juillard, H. (2020). Ebola and cholera epidemics - An ALNAP Lessons Paper. ALNAP.

Layous, K., Nelson-Coffey, S. K. (2021). The effect of perceived social support on personal resources following minor adversity: An experimental investigation of belonging affirmation. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin. 2021; 47(7):1152–1168.

Lee, R. M., & Robbins, S. B. (2000). Understanding social connectedness in college women and men. Journal of Counselling and Development, 78: 484-491.

Lincoln, Y. S., & Guba, E. G. (1985). Naturalistic inquiry. London: Sage.

Lomanowska, A. M., & Guitton, M. J. (2016). Online intimacy and well-being in the digital age. Internet Interventions. 4, 138–144.

Marczyk, G., DeMatteo, D., & Festinger, D. (2005). Essentials of research design and methodology New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Matos, M., McEwan, K., Kanovský, M., Halamová, J., Steindl, S. R., Ferreira, N., et al. (2021). The role of social connection on the experience of COVID-19 related post-traumatic growth and stress. PLoS ONE 16(12).

Matthews, B., & Ross, L. (2010). Research methods. A practical guide for social sciences. Harlow: Pearson Educational Limited

MEXT (2020). COVID-19 hygiene management at schools - new lifestyle at schools. Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, Japan, https://www.mext.go.jp/content/20200522_mxt_kouhou02_mext_00029_01.pdf.

Miles, M. B., & Huberman, A. M. (1994). Qualitative data analysis: An expanded sourcebook (2nd ed.). London: Sage.

Naser, A. Y., Dahmash, E. Z., Al-Rousan, R., Alwafi, H., Alrawashdeh, H. M., Ghoul, I., Abidine, A., Bokhary, M. A., Naser et al. 671 Al-Hadithi, H. T., Ali, D., Abuthawabeh, R., Abdelwahab, G. M., Alhartani, Y. J., Al Muhaisen, H., & Dagash, A. (2020). Mental health status of the general population, healthcare professionals, and university students during 2019 coronavirus disease outbreak in Jordan: A cross-sectional study. Brain and Behaviour, 10(8), e01730. https://doi.org/10.1002/brb3.1730

Neuman, W. L. (2007). Basics of social research: Qualitative and quantitative approaches (2nd ed.). Boston: Allyn and Bacon.

Oberndorfer, M., Dorner, T. E., Brunnmayr, M., Berger, K., Dugandzic, B., & Bach, M. (2021). The health-related and socio‐economic burden of the COVID‐19 pandemic in Vienna. Health & Social Care in the Community.

OECD (2020). Flattening the covid-19 peak: Containment and mitigation policies. OECD Publishing, Paris.

OECD (2020). OECD economic outlook. OECD Publishing, Paris.

OECD (2020). VET in a time of crisis: Building foundations for resilient vocational education and training systems. Policy Brief, OECD, Paris.

OECD (2021). Employment outlook 2021. Navigating the Covid-19 crisis and recovery. Available at: https://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/employment/oecd-employment-outlook2021_5a700c4b-en (Accessed October 19, 2021).

Okyere, D. (2020, March 20). Fighting the common enemy. Daily Graphic, p.26.

Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (2020). Education at a glance 2020: OECD indicators. OECD Publishing, Paris.

Petrocchi, N., Cheli, S. (2019). The social brain and heart rate variability: Implications for psychotherapy. Psychol Psychother, 92(2):208–223.

Pietromonaco, P. R., & Collins, N. L (2017). Interpersonal mechanisms linking close relationships to health. Am Psychol, 72(5), 31–42.

Pietromonaco, Paula R., and Lindsey A. Beck. 2019. Adult attachment and physical health. Current Opinion in Psychology 25: 115–120.

Piquero, A. R., Riddell, J. R., Bishopp, S. A., Narvey, C., Reid, J. A., & Piquero, N. L. (2020). Staying home, staying safe? A short-term analysis of COVID-19 on Dallas domestic violence. American Journal of Criminal Justice, 45, 601–635.

Pope, C., Ziebland, S., & Mays, N. (2020). Qualitative research in health care. Analysing qualitative data. British Medical Journal, 320, 114 – 116.

Rohwerder, B. (2020). Secondary impacts of major disease outbreaks in low-and-middle-income countries. K4D Helpdesk Report 756. Brighton, UK: Institute of Development Studies.

Ryu, S. I., Park, Y-H., Kim, J., Huh, I., Chang, S. J., Jang, S-N., & Noh, E-N. (2022). Impact of COVID-19 on the social relationships and mental health of older adults living alone: A two-year prospective cohort study. PLoS ONE, 17(7), 16 – 25.

Sallis, J. F., Owen, N., & Fisher, E. B. (2008). Ecological models of health behavior. In Glanz, K., Rimer, B. K., & Viswanath, K. (Eds), health behavior and health education: theory, research, and practice. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass, pp. 465–486.

Saltzman, L.Y., Hansel, T. C., Bordnick, P. S. (2020). Loneliness, isolation, and social support factors in post-COVID-19 mental health. Psychol Trauma, 12(S1), 55–57.

Saltzman, L.Y., Pat-Horenczyk R, Lombe M, Weltman A, Ziv Y, McNamara T, et al. (2018). Post-combat adaptation: improving social support and reaching constructive growth. Anxiety Stress Coping, 31 (4), 418–430.

Sandstrom, G. M., & Dunn, E. W. (2014). Social Interactions and Well-Being. Pers Soc. Psychol. Bull. 40, 910–922.

Santini, Z. I., Koyanagi, A., Tyrovolas, S., Mason, C., & Haro, J. M. (2015). The association between social relationships and depression: A systematic review. Journal of Affective Disorders, 175, 53–65.

Santos, R., & Novelli, M. (2017). The effect of the Ebola crisis on the education system's contribution to post-conflict sustainable peacebuilding in Liberia. Centre for International Education, University of Sussex.

Seppa¨la¨, E. M., Simon-Thomas, E., Brown, S. L., Worline, M. C., Cameron, C. D., & Doty, J. R. (2017). The Oxford handbook of compassion science. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Slavich, G. M., Roos, L. G., & Zaki, J. (2021). Social belonging, compassion, and kindness: Key ingredients for fostering resilience, recovery, and growth from the COVID-19 pandemic. Anxiety, Stress, & Coping, 1–8.

Sobal, J. (2001). Sample extensiveness in qualitative nutrition education research. Journal of Nutr. Educ. 33(4), 184–92.

United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) (2020). Education: From Disruption to Recovery. https://en.unesco.org/COVID19/educationresponse

Vaismoradi, M., Turunen, H., & Bondas, T. (2013). Content analysis and thematic analysis: Implications for conducting a qualitative descriptive study. Journal Nursing Health Sciences15(3), 398 – 405.

Valtorta, N. K., Kanaan, M., Gilbody, S., & Hanratty, B. (2016). Loneliness, social isolation and social relationships: What are we measuring? A novel framework for classifying and comparing tools. BMJ Open, 6(4), 10 – 19.

Vasileiou, K., Barnett, J., Thorpe, S., & Young, T. (2018). Characterising and justifying sample size sufficiency in interview-based studies: Systematic analysis of qualitative health research over a 15-year period. B.M.C. Medical Research Methodology, 18(1), 148 – 150.

Vindegaard, N., & Benros, M. E. (2020). COVID-19 Pandemic and Mental Health Consequences: Systematic Review of the Current Evidence. Brain, Behavior, and Immunity, 89, 531-542. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bbi.2020.05.048

WHO (2020). Report of the WHO-China Joint Mission on Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19). Geneva: World Health Organization.

WHO (2022). COVID-19 situation report. Weekly data report, February 23.

Xu, J., & Ou, L. (2014). Resilience and quality of life among Wenchuan earthquake survivors: The mediating role of social support. Public Health, 128(5):430–7.

Yin, R. K. (2018). Case study research. Design and methods (6th ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.




DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.46827/ejsss.v8i1.1389

Copyright (c) 2022 Felix Oppusu Paapa Agyiri, Stephen Kwabena Asaah-Junior, Beatrice Benewaa, Collins Appiah

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

The research works published in this journal are free to be accessed. They can be shared (copied and redistributed in any medium or format) and\or adapted (remixed, transformed, and built upon the material for any purpose, commercially and\or not commercially) under the following terms: attribution (appropriate credit must be given indicating original authors, research work name and publication name mentioning if changes were made) and without adding additional restrictions (without restricting others from doing anything the actual license permits). Authors retain the full copyright of their published research works and cannot revoke these freedoms as long as the license terms are followed.

Copyright © 2016 - 2023. European Journal Of Social Sciences Studies (ISSN 2501-8590) is a registered trademark of Open Access Publishing Group. All rights reserved.

This journal is a serial publication uniquely identified by an International Standard Serial Number (ISSN) serial number certificate issued by Romanian National Library. All the research works are uniquely identified by a CrossRef DOI digital object identifier supplied by indexing and repository platforms. All the research works published on this journal are meeting the Open Access Publishing requirements and standards formulated by Budapest Open Access Initiative (2002), the Bethesda Statement on Open Access Publishing (2003) and  Berlin Declaration on Open Access to Knowledge in the Sciences and Humanities (2003) and can be freely accessed, shared, modified, distributed and used in educational, commercial and non-commercial purposes under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. Copyrights of the published research works are retained by authors.


 

Hit counter