School of Human and Community Development (ETDs)

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    Students’ Experiences of Technology, Social Connection, and Psycho-Social Well-Being during the COVID-19 Pandemic
    (University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2023-04) Bonheim, Angela R.; Marchetti-Mercer, Maria
    In an effort to curb the spread of Covid-19 in South Africa, a strict national lockdown was enforced by the South African government on 23 March 2020. The lockdown had a profoundly negative impact on individuals’ mental well-being as well as family functioning. In particular, university students were forced to adapt to changes in academic, social, and familial areas of life and faced unique challenges as a result of the lockdown. Maintaining interpersonal relationships outside of the home, such as with family, friends, partners, and colleagues, had the potential to alleviate these adverse mental consequences. This study aims to explore specifically how postgraduate students who were living with close family members during the lockdown used technology to maintain social connections with others outside of their homes. The sample consists of seven postgraduate students who lived with their families for over two months during the national lockdown which began in March 2020. The findings of this study indicate that participants placed greater emphasis on maintaining interpersonal relationships than they had prior to the pandemic and expended more effort on virtual interactions. While participants were able to maintain many interpersonal relationships during the lockdown, many found it difficult to remain in contact with a small proportion of their friends. Participants also reported making creative use of technological platforms to maintain relational closeness. Video calling and textual communication was reported to be particularly useful means of sustaining connections. However, technology-mediated communication often did not provide the same level of intimacy as face-to-face connections. Virtual communication also led to the blurring of boundaries, including challenges in separating virtual and physical ‘spaces’ and difficulty in maintaining personal-professional boundaries.