Data set on Impact of COVID-19 on Mental Health of Internal Migrant Workers in India: Corona Virus Anxiety Scale (CAS) Approach

India has witnessed a dramatic shift in the movement of workers within the nation. There are more than 100 million migrant workers in different Industries according to official employment estimation. Migrant workers employed in informal sectors mostly engage in temporary, unskilled work, characterized by low wages, job insecurity, and economic vulnerability, which are peculiar characteristics of informal work environments (Atnafu, 2014)They are exposed to experience multiple psychological disorders like anxiety and depression due to cultural differences in migrated states, loss of social network, identity crises and lack of access to public health care facilities in addition to other problems like malnutrition and acute poverty. COVID 19 has worsened the problem of migrant workers with increased rates of anxiety, stress, and distress psychiatric conditions. With the lockdown and travel restrictions, many groups of stranded laborers were struggling to reach their hometowns. Migrant workers were identified as the most vulnerable group to the risk of catching the COVID- 19 infections. This has added to their mental health issues. With the focus on migrant workers as the subject of investigation, this data set is aimed at enhancing the knowledge of the users of the data on the impact of the pandemic on the mental health issues of the internal migrant workers. Our survey probes into the psychiatric issues that migrant works face and trauma that they underwent during the pandemic using Corona Virus Anxiety Scale (CAS) which was originally developed by Lee in the year 2019. The scale uses four dimensions namely Cognitive, Emotional, Behavioural, and Psychological. The data was constructed with the help interview schedule which was developed by employing Corona Virus Anxiety Scale (CAS). We have developed this data out of 1350 valid responses elicited through the telephonic interview. The data were collected from June to August 2020 which is considered to be the peak pandemic period. We consider the period was crucial since it was characterized by the uncertain atmosphere with job markets badly hit and workers having the fear of reintroducing travel restriction being imposed by the government. Thus the data provides insights and guidance for the interested researchers to carry our related studies on the mental health of vulnerable groups like migrant workers. The data would also enable researchers and academicians to investigate the impact of such pandemic and uncertain events on the mental health of vulnerable groups. This data would enable the researcher to understand the possible adverse impacts on the anxiety levels of the dispersed population of migrant workers.

我国见证了国内劳动者流动的显著转变。据官方就业估计，我国拥有超过一亿名产业流动工人。在非正式领域就业的流动工人大多从事临时性、无技能的工作，其特征为低薪、职业不稳定和经济脆弱性，这些特点尤为突出于非正式工作环境（Atnafu, 2014）。由于迁移地与文化差异、社会网络丧失、身份危机以及缺乏获得公共卫生保健设施的机会，他们还面临着焦虑和抑郁等多重心理疾病的风险，除此之外，还包括营养不良和极度贫困等问题。COVID-19疫情加剧了流动工人的困境，焦虑、压力和心理痛苦状况的比率上升。随着封锁和旅行限制的实行，许多被困的工人群体正努力返回家乡。流动工人被认定为最易感染COVID-19风险的高危群体。这进一步加剧了他们的心理健康问题。本数据集以流动工人为研究对象，旨在提升数据使用者对疫情对国内流动工人心理健康影响的认识。我们的调查通过电话访谈收集了1350份有效回复，旨在探究流动工人面临的心理健康问题和疫情期间的创伤，使用的评估工具为2019年由Lee开发的冠状病毒焦虑量表（CAS）。该量表包含认知、情感、行为和心理四个维度。数据是通过采用冠状病毒焦虑量表（CAS）开发的访谈提纲构建而成。该数据集收集于2020年6月至8月，被认为是疫情的高峰期。我们认为这一时期至关重要，因为其特征是充满不确定性的氛围，劳动力市场受到重创，工人对政府可能再次实施旅行限制感到恐惧。因此，该数据为有兴趣的研究人员提供了洞察和指导，以便对流动工人等弱势群体的心理健康问题进行相关研究。该数据还将使研究人员和学者能够调查此类疫情和不确定事件对弱势群体心理健康的影响。该数据还将使研究人员能够理解分散的流动工人群体焦虑水平可能出现的负面影响。