Resilience In Isolation: How The COVID-19 Pandemic Shaped The Character Strengths of School Students.
Keywords:
Resilience, Character Strengths, COVID-19 Pandemic, Adaptability, Emotional Stability, Self-Control, Adolescent DevelopmentAbstract
The COVID-19 pandemic reshaped the psychosocial development of school-aged learners worldwide. This quantitative study evaluates how the pandemic influenced character strengths—resilience, adaptability, self-control, empathy, and emotional stability—among 200 students of Little Flower School, Raptinagar, Gorakhpur. A 25-item Likert Scale Questionnaire was administered, and data were analysed using descriptive statistics, t-test, and Pearson correlation. Results indicate significant enhancement in resilience (M=4.12) and adaptability (M=4.05). Female students exhibited significantly higher empathy and emotional stability (p<0.05), while males showed marginally higher adaptability. Strong correlations were observed between resilience and adaptability (r=0.68, p<0.01), resilience and emotional stability (r=0.52, p<0.01), and resilience and self-control (r=0.46, p<0.01). The study concludes that the pandemic served as a developmental turning point that strengthened multiple psychosocial competencies. Recommendations include structured resilience-building interventions in schools to sustain these gains.
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