Level of Covid-19 Anxiety among Secondary School Students in Schools and at Home in Delta State

Abstract

This study investigated the extent of Covid-19 anxiety among students in school and at home in Delta State. Eight research questions and four null hypotheses guided the study. The design of the study was descriptive survey research design of the ex-post facto method. The population of the study comprised 128,024 students in Delta State. A sample size of 383 students participated in the study. A questionnaire was used for the study. The instrument was adequately validated by means of experts’ judgement. The reliability of the instruments was done to determine their measure of internal consistency, through Cronbach Alpha reliability coefficient and found adequate. The data collected were analysed with mean and standard deviation for the research questions, while paired and independent samples t-test were used to test the stated hypotheses at 0.05 level of significance. From the analysis of data, the following findings emerged: that the extent of Covid-19 anxiety among students in school is high; that the extent of Covid-19 anxiety among students at home is high; that the extent of Covid-19 anxiety among male students is high; that the extent of Covid-19 anxiety among female students is high; that the extent of Covid-19 anxiety among senior students is high; that the extent of Covid-19 anxiety among junior students is high; that the extent of Covid-19 anxiety among rural students is high; that the extent of Covid-19 anxiety among urban students is high; that there is no significant difference in the extent of Covid-19 anxiety among students in school and at home; that there is no significant difference in the extent of Covid-19 anxiety among between male and female students in school; that there is no significant difference in the extent of Covid-19 Anxiety among between senior and junior students in school; and that there is no significant difference in the extent of Covid-19 anxiety among between urban and rural students in school. The study recommended amongst others, that Guidance counsellors should allocate time for mental health support to relieve students’ concerns and worries to mitigate depression and anxiety.