RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN LONELINESS, FRUSTRATION AND MENTAL HEALTH OF UNIVERSITY UNDERGRADUATES

Abstract

  The study investigated loneliness, frustration and mental health of young people in the during the COVID-19 pandemic era. A total of 211 students from the Faculty of Management and Social Sciences, Caritas University Amorji Nike, Enugu participated in the study. The participants are within the ages of 18 and 28 with a mean age of 22.42 and a standard deviation of 2.23. The participants were administered the following scales: Basic Psychological Needs Satisfaction and Frustration Scale; UCLA Loneliness Scale and Psychological Distress Scale. Based on the hierarchical multiple regression to test the hypotheses. The results revealed loneliness is a predictor of mental distress among young people (?=0.36, t= 5.27). It also contributed 10% in explaining the variance in mental distress (?R2 = .10). The results were discussed and recommendations made. Keywords: frustration, loneliness, life satisfaction, needs, well-being