Psychosocial impacts of COVID-19 pandemic: a cross-sectional study of Mirpur, Pakistan

ABSTRACT This article is aimed to examine the psychosocial impacts faced by the people of Mirpur city during the COVID-19 pandemic. The objective was to determine the nature of psycho-social impacts faced by the people during the outbreak. Thus, we conducted this research in Mirpur city of Pakistan-administered Kashmir due to its second-highest prevalence rate of pandemic in Pakistan. The study was fashioned in positivistic tradition of quantitative research design. An online survey technique of Google survey form was adopted. Google survey form was disseminated among identified groups through social media tools due to the pandemics’ lockdown situation. Moreover, a sample of 856 respondents out of 1853 participated in the research. This research is informed by the stress-coping theory of Lazarus and Folkman. Findings revealed that psychosocial problems have strong association with loss of business, restrictions on religious practices, shutdown of markets, ban on social obligations, recreational activities, and physical movement. Similarly, logistic regression analysis also endorsed psychosocial impacts of pandemic on people. It is also unveiled that people were unable to cope with the psychological problems during the pandemic. Thus, our research substantiate the stress-coping theory of Lazarus and Folkman.