People are constantly adapting to different changes throughout their lives. Last year, however, we were all challenged by the emergence od the COVID-19 epidemic, which made it hard to have genuine social contacts with other people. Social contacts play an important role in growing up, as well ad in the later lives of each of us. During adolescence, social contacts with peers, among other factors, allows us to find out who we are and what we want to become, set goals, discover our interests, learn solidarity and community life. Healthy and genuine relationships with people lead to well-being, as a prolonged lack of social contacts makes an individual feel lonely, whch can lead to physical and psychological consequences. At the time of the COVID-19 epidemic, when the government's strictest measurer were in place, contacts with people outside their household were prohibited. The purpose of this study was to investigate how limiting physical contacts with peers affected the mental distress of young people, especially experience of stress. I was also interested in finding out if young people are of the opinion that digitalization, which was the only possible source of social contacts with peers, is a good substitute for physical contats with peers.
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