International Journal of
Advanced Multidisciplinary Application

Volume 3, Issue 6

• Author(s)Priya Ramachandran
• AffiliationDepartment of Sociology, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, India
• Page No.112-117
• Volume, Issue & YearVolume 3, Issue 6, June 2026
• Published On2026/06/14
• JournalInternational Journal of Advanced Multidisciplinary Application (IJAMA)
• ISSN No.3048-9350

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic precipitated an unprecedented rupture in the social fabric of urban Indian youth, simultaneously accelerating digital penetration and intensifying pre-existing structural inequalities in access to digital infrastructure, thereby creating a bifurcated landscape of social participation with divergent mental health consequences. Drawing on Bourdieu’s theory of capital conversion and Putnam’s conceptualisation of bonding and bridging social capital, this study investigates the mediating role of digital social capital in the relationship between internet access quality and psychological wellbeing among youth aged 18–30 across Mumbai, Delhi, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, and Kolkata. A mixed-methods design integrates a stratified survey (n = 2,840), twelve focus group discussions (n = 96 participants), and fourteen in-depth interviews with institutional informants including social workers, mental health professionals, and community leaders. Survey instruments incorporate the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9), the Generalised Anxiety Disorder Scale-7 (GAD-7), the Online Social Capital Scale (OSCS), and a purpose-built Digital Access Quality Index (DAQI). Structural equation modelling reveals that digital social capital fully mediates the effect of DAQI on PHQ-9 scores (β = −0.34, p < 0.001), with the indirect path accounting for 67% of total effect variance. Youth in the lowest DAQI quartile report PHQ-9 scores averaging 11.4 (moderate depression range) versus 5.8 in the highest quartile — a clinically meaningful 97% differential. Bridging social capital demonstrates stronger protective effects than bonding capital on anxiety outcomes, reversing the pattern observed in pre-pandemic offline social capital research. Qualitative findings reveal three emergent mechanisms: ‘digital displacement’ of offline social ties without equivalent capital conversion, ‘platform-induced comparison strain’ intensified by algorithm-driven content curation, and ‘connectivity precarity’ as a chronic stressor distinct from acute access deprivation. Policy implications address differential infrastructure investment, school-based digital social capital curricula, and integrated mental health screening in community digital access programmes.

Keywords: digital inequality, social capital, mental health, urban youth, India, post-pandemic sociology, Bourdieu, structural equation modelling, PHQ-9, digital access

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