Kramar och covid-19 - En kvantitativ undersökning om fysisk kontakt kan påverka psykiskt välbefinnande under en global pandemi

Sammanfattning: This quantitative study aimed to extend the knowledge about change in Swedish university students mental well-being, physical contact and the connection between the two of them during a global pandemic. Due to covid-19, the Swedish government announced that the citizens should keep distance from each other. Meanwhile earlier studies have shown both increase of mental illness and unchanged mental health during quarantine and covid-19. Furthermore, studies have shown that psychical contact can for example reduce stress and pain. This study collected data by sending a survey to randomly selected students at Lunds University (n= 1176) to measure mental well-being and physical contact before and during the pandemic. To measure mental well-being, respondents answered the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS). Physical contact was measured by simple questions about how often they had physical contact during the specified period. The results are based on an amount of 109 respondents which participated. Firstly, we found that most respondents had a change of mental well-being before comparing to how it was during covid-19, however the change was both increased and decreased. Secondly, we found that most students had same physical contact before and during covid-19. Lastly, we found a weak correlation between the results of PANAS and difference in physical contact.