“Supportive” Friends vs. “Toxic” Friends: Aspects of Friendship Promoting and Hindering Youth Mental Health during Covid-19 Pandemic

This research aimed to explore the factors that promote and hinder youth’s mental health during the pandemic. A total of 151 participants (79% female) aged 18-30 years completed an online survey included open-ended questions about their friendship experience. Thematic analysis using an inductive approach yielded several themes. Social support, communication, quality time, openness, emotional bonds, empathy, guidance, and advice were identified as relational aspects that promote mental health. Lack of social support, ineffective communication, emotional and physical distance, and conflicts were identified as relational aspects hindering mental health. Toxic relationship tendencies, such as judgment and imposition, were also considered detrimental to mental health. Furthermore, personal aspects such as integrity in friendship were perceived as positive for mental health, while certain negative personality traits, negative feelings, and thoughts were seen as harmful. The way young people define supportive friends versus "toxic" friends can differ across contexts other than pandemic.


I N T R O D U C T I O N
The Covid-19 pandemic hit the whole world including Indonesia.The pandemic also had a negative impact on the mental health of the younger generation (Bell et al., 2023).Furthermore, Indonesia has imposed restrictions on social activity in the form of a Distance Learning policy.Due to the policy, the government closed all schools, which later became one of the factors causing mental health problems in adolescents (Fegert et al., 2020;Lee, 2020;Zaharah et al., 2020).The research by Rahmayanthi et al. (2021) involving participants aged 15 -18 years and using the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12) self-assessment tool, explained that there were as many as 59.5% of adolescents in Indonesia experiencing psychological stress and social problems.It was further explained that many teenage girls experienced changes in their sleeping schedules which also negatively impact their psychological conditions.Primarily, the Covid-19 pandemic also has an impact on emotional aspects (Gerhold, 2020;Li et al., 2020), paranoia or fear and panic (Ho et al., 2020), as well as loneliness (Berg-Weger & Morley, 2020).
Social support is the main protective factor for adolescents to deal with stress (Camara et al., 2017;Cohen & Wills, 1985).Building interpersonal relationship can certainly facilitate social support, such as friendship.Friendship can be a medium of social support, apart from support from family (Lathifa et al., 2021).Moore et al. (2018) found that there is a positive correlation between friendship, social support, and mental health which influences learning and social behavior in the community.During Covid-19 pandemic, adolescents were prone to feel more isolated (Ayers et al., 2022), therefore social support was highly needed.Considering this situation, it is important to examine the meaning and the dynamic of friendship during pandemic which forces other social support from other sources apart from family social support.
Previous studies with Covid-19 pandemic context have shown the effectiveness of friendship to help adolescents enhance their mental health.A study from Juvanen et al. (2022) has argued that young people have emotional hurdles while the pandemic continues, they are also able to adapt by staying in touch with peers to overcome their feeling of loneliness.Therefore, friendship has implications to overcome loneliness.Moreover, Pavarini et al. (2023) conducted experimental research with qualitative evaluation about the effect of online peer support training on adolescents' emotional support skills and mental health which showed that peer support improved adolescents' mental health and agency.Qualitative reports revealed further positive outcomes including increased self-care and empowerment.The study implies the importance of friends in providing support during a crisis period.

Friendship and its characteristics
Friendship is not easy to define, as its meaning is more holistic and subjective (Brissett & Oldenburg, Friendship has a vital role to play in promoting mental health and well-being.Friendship can provide experiences that emphasize interconnectedness and describe actions that can lead individuals to care for themselves and others who promote their mental health (Cleary et al., 2018).In general, friendship mainly contributes to the resilience factor of social support (Hojjat & Moyer, 2017).Social support is defined as the perception of the level of emotional and informational and instrumental or practical support that is obtained collectively or provided by significant people (Thoits, 2010).Friendship has the potential to generate significant social support for individuals' psychological and emotional well-being, thereby bolstering their mental health.
As individuals grow older, friendship provides a context for shared activities such as sharing hobbies, social eating, and going to concerts or movies together (Cleary et al., 2018).In this regard, there is a level of intimacy in friendship that allows one to reveal personal problems, hopes and desires, or seek help and advice (Demir et al., 2012).Positive friendship can be experienced in one's daily life and facilitate the quality of bonding and closeness, which in turn increases feelings of acceptance.This can be described by someone who feels that they are unique, cared for and special to their friends because of the closeness that is built from shared experiences.Relationship with close friends can contribute to one's happiness (Demir et al., 2012).Within the context of establishing connections with more mature individuals, there exists particular aspects associated with intimate friendship or intrinsic value of companionship.For instance, through the formation of friendship, individuals can cultivate a network of confidants and supporters who share both positive and negative experience (Demir et al., 2012).
Consequently, friendship among youths can provide a source of psychological and emotional support, as evidenced in this study by the notion of supportive friends.
While the majority of research on friendship predominantly highlights its positive influence on mental health, it is crucial to acknowledge that friendship can also entail challenges and potentially exert adverse effects on overall well-being.Broadly speaking, four distinct types of problematic friendship can be identified, namely those characterized by excessive intimacy that infringes upon personal boundaries, friendship dissolution, weakened relationship, and relational conflicts (Adams et al., 2000).Consequently, it is imperative to recognize that friendship, which may unexpectedly impact psychological and emotional well-being, can be linked to problematic aspects of friendship, an area of inquiry that will be explored in this study.

Friendship in Indonesia
Friendship is a contextual social relationship (Adams & Plaut, 2003).Thus, cultural background can contribute to differences in viewing friendship.Most of the studies on friendship have been conducted in Western cultural settings, which are generally assumed to be individualistic cultures, such as European countries and the United States.Research on friendship in Asia which is considered relatively collectivistic, has shown a different pattern of friendship interaction compared to Western society.For example, findings from a previous study conducted by Reis et al. (2000) and Triandis et al. (1988) showed that individuals from collectivistic cultures tend to limit their interactions to a small group of people they know well.Adams and Plaut (2003) also claimed that friendship in collectivistic countries are characterized by having fewer friends and placing less emphasis on self-disclosure than in individualistic countries.Other studies have found that Indonesian adolescents are more inclusive than American adolescents, because they engage in more daily interactions with friends and bi-weekly interactions with people other than their friends (French et al., 2006).In other words, this research implies that Indonesians do not limit their interactions to only those within their circle of friends.Hence, the presence of variations in patterns of friendship dynamics within society embracing individualistic and collectivistic cultures, such as Indonesia, can yield disparities in the aspects of friendship that contribute to mental health promotion.
The primary objective of this study was to examine the aspects of friendship in Indonesia that may either foster or hinder mental health among youths in the context of Covid-19 pandemic; and provide insights into the development of friendship that facilitate social support and promote well-being.In order to attain the research objectives, we proposed a set of research questions: 1. What constitutes the various aspect of friendship that foster mental well-being during the Covid-19 pandemic?2. What are the aspects of friendship that hinder mental health during the Covid-19 pandemic?3. How has the dynamics of friendship changed during the Covid-19 pandemic?

M E T H O D Research Design
This research used an online qualitative survey design with open-ended questions as a data collection technique and distributed through various media platforms.Online qualitative survey was chosen because friendship in the context of Covid-19 pandemic has yet to be explored, thus there would be diversity of perspectives.In addition, this technique allows us to get many responses from participants who may be passive in communicating their feelings directly or want to stay anonymous (Braun et al., 2021).The conditions of the Covid-19 pandemic that do not allow for face-to-face meetings are another reason for using online qualitative surveys.We used convenience sampling based on availability and ease of access.The questionnaire was distributed through social media, such as WhatsApp, Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn over two months period.

Participants
A total of 151 youth aged 18-30 years old participated in this study.According to the Law of the Republic of Indonesia No. 40/2009, the age range of youth is 16-30 years old.We chose a minimum age limit of 18 to avoid involving minors (<18 years old) in data collection.The provisions of Law No. 23/2002 on child protection categorize individuals who have not reached the age of 18 as children who need to be protected.Their participation in this study must obtain parental permission.
Research participants are described based on several sociodemographic; 79% were female, 44% were in the age range of 20-25 years old and 26-30 years old, 57% had the latest educational background of bachelor (S1), and 38% came from Javanese ethnicity.The percentage of each socio demographic variable in full can be seen in the following table.Note.N = 151.Participants were on average 24.4 years old (SD = 3.34).

Data Collection
We used a questionnaire through QuestionPro which was distributed online.At the beginning of the questionnaire, we included informed consent as a form of ethical enforcement.Informed consent contains an explanation of the rights of participants, such as the right to voluntary participation, to withdraw without being subject to fines or sanctions, as well as confidentiality.In addition, the informed consent also included an explanation of the purpose of the study, research procedures, benefits, and This research used an intersubjective approach to increase the credibility or validity of data as used in Smaling (1992).We independently identified categories from the data, then discussed the categories that had been identified.The next step is we sit together to determine themes from the various categories obtained.

Data Analysis
We conducted a thematic analysis of the data obtained through the online questionnaire.Thematic analysis, as outlined by Braun and Clarke (2012), aims to identify patterns, and establish specific themes in the data.We used thematic analysis with an inductive type of orientation to data.The inductive analysis allowed us to remain open to the findings from the data without being limited by pre-existing theories and concepts about friendship.This approach provides flexibility in identifying themes that may be unexpected or unanticipated.

R E S U L T S
We used the term "close friends" to enhance participants' understanding of the friendship dynamics, which is the focus of the study.This deliberate choice aimed to elicit more profound insights into the intricacies of intimate friendship, thereby facilitating the collection of data that authentically reflects the dynamics within such relationship.A comparative depiction of the emerging themes concerning friendship, which either foster mental well-being or impede emotional equilibrium, is presented in table 2. Quality time can also promote mental health, indicated by the time spent doing activities together while still complying with health protocols.Friends may not see each other as often as they did before the pandemic, yet that can still be enjoyable although the activities were time-limited due to the protocols.SA, 22 years old, stated that Hanging out with friends is crucial for my well-being during the pandemic.I need to meet my close friends to boost my energy.And that was important even though it was restricted.Without meeting them in person, I did not feel good, psychologically.Spending time with people that I have a healthy relationship with, every moment is very meaningful for my self-healing process, especially during the pandemic.
During the pandemic, quality time was also maintained online.A 21-year-old participant, AN, said, "me and my friend, since the beginning of the pandemic, have been doing online activities together, such as calling, (chatting) in a group chat, playing online games, listening to music, and sending hampers occasionally.Another participant stated doing online activities such as spending time together.MRN, 19 years old, said that "since the pandemic, not once have I felt lonely.We often sent memes to each other, watched movies together even from our homes and then discuss it, and sometimes hung out every time one of us had to leave the house".
Friendship that promotes mental health is also determined by the quality of openness in relationship and emotional bond.These two aspects can be interrelated.Openness tends to occur along with increasing emotional ties, and vice versa, increasing emotional ties can make individuals more open.Important notions related to openness are acceptance and disclosure of deeper information.GT, 21 years old, said that A good friend is the person who knows me well, good and bad things about me, someone to share stories with, share laughter, someone who would be there for me when I am sad, someone who In general, openness would be established when the two friends have known each other for a long time and prioritized each other.Meanwhile, the idea of emotional bonding was built up from several categories, such as providing comfort, always being there for each other through thick and thin, having compatibility which is also termed "having the same frequency", the absence of awkwardness, intimate feelings.CD, 24 years old, said that a good friend is "a person who is always there through ups and downs, who motivates and gives comfort, even when I got diagnosed with Covid-19, they did not leave me behind".
Empathy in friendship also promotes mental health.Some of the core categories of empathy are empathizing, understanding, listening, being attentive, non-judgmental, tolerant, and caring.LL, 20 years old, stated that friendship can promote our psychological well-being during the pandemic by sharing stories, sharing worries, venting about anything in our mind, expressing emotions that were ingrained in each other in the previous days.We empathize with each other and want to be good listeners to one another.Another participant mentioned that although physically unable to meet, being supportive and a good listener is very meaningful.
In addition, other emerging themes showed that a friend needs to be a guide, have integrity and can be trusted.As stated by ANT, 26 years old, a healthy friendship is "when you have friends who never leave you, do not hesitate to admonish and warn you, they also bring out the best in you".Friends are also someone who can be trusted, as ATO, 22 years old, said, "friends are those who can be trusted beside our family, we share laughter and tears, we can even consider them as family".In the context of Covid-19 pandemic, AT explained that "a good friend will warn you to not share false information related to Covid-19 because it can cause anxiety."Another participant said that "a friend would also remind us to take a good care of our family who was infected by Covid-19".

Unhealthy Friendships
In contrast to friendship promoting mental health, we categorized several aspects that impede mental health during the pandemic as unhealthy friendship.Lack of social support and communication, conflicts due to lack of openness and intense interactions, as well as emotional and physical distance are opposite aspects of friendship that promotes mental health as previously discussed.Due to physical distancing protocol, limited interaction leads to reduced communication and social support, which in turn can affect mental health.RA, 22 years old, explained that "friendship could be psychologically challenged due to the loss of interaction during the pandemic that made us feel alone, especially when our friends did not care about us.It made us feel lonely and neglected".ML, 26 years old, also told that "I felt uncomfortable when my close friends did not care to ask about my situation and they enjoy meeting up with others.For those who had to self-isolate (due to being affected by Covid-19), they feel left out.But even when it was over (the self-isolation), they still hesitated to meet us due to fear of exposure." Furthermore, the physical distancing protocol also might cause misunderstandings, RA continued that "especially if there was a misunderstanding, it would be hard to resolve".SH, 21 years old, also stated that lack of communication and leisure time with friends had impacted the intensity of friendship which can affect well-being.She said, "if there were misunderstandings with my friends, it was hard to entertain myself because many places were closed, it was hard to distract myself from negative thoughts and keep thinking about the conflict".
Other themes are toxic tendencies, negative thoughts and feelings, and incompatible/negative personalities.Toxic tendencies include categories such as annoying, judgmental, blaming, prejudice, belittling, and invasion of privacy.LLA, 18 years old, said that "friendship can interfere with psychological health if it starts to feel unhealthy, all parties acted selfish and blame each other".During Covid-19, the tendencies could be seen when one keeps blaming the situation and other parties about the negative effect of the pandemic.Besides, they also keep talking about negative news or stories, as mentioned by LL, 20 years old.GT, 21 years old, also mentioned that "annoying friends is friend are those who always complain when we got infected (by Covid), keep asking about the feeling of being exposed to Covid-19 even if they know that it is uncomfortable, especially at the beginning.Some toxic friends also show flexing when others are struggling".LL also mentioned that "annoying friends are those who keep ignoring the health protocol.Let's say when we comply to the strict health protocols, they ignore them.Due to our friendship, we hesitate to scold them or they yelling at us for being overly strict".It can be implied that toxic friends are apathy or lack of empathy.
Furthermore, negative thoughts and feelings including spreading negative energy, having unpleasant feelings, stress/burnout, discomfort feeling, and negative thoughts.As mentioned by ST, 23 years old, "perhaps it is more about guilt and unpleasant feeling about asking for help but we actually really need it.Sometimes it is emotionally draining".ML, 26 years old, added, "I feel worried about my friends.I overthink about how they were doing during the pandemic.We sometimes worry too much about the consequences and impacts of Covid-19".This negative feeling had affected mental well-being in friendship.
Lastly, the categories regarding inappropriate/negative personality are stubborn, manipulative, selfish, not being able to keep promises, hypocritical, possessive, arrogant, dishonest, insincere, and defensive or always trying to find excuses about their mistakes.As stated by BN, 26 years old, "it is very annoying when they always want to be appreciated and noticed but don't want to respect others.They always think as if they were dealing with the worst kind of problems, but so was everyone.They thought that they suffered a lot because of Covid-19, and yet again so did everyone, some even worse".TT, 23 years old, also added that unhealthy friends are "friends who share misinformation and don't accept others' opinions."This is in line with the statement from AY, 25 years old, "a friend is detrimental to your mental health when they strongly promote opinions and/or misinformation related to Covid-19, or is stubbornly unwilling to comply to social distancing, dishonest about their situation, and try to find excuses when they do something wrong".

The Friendship Dynamic during Covid-19 Pandemic
The first pattern of friendship dynamics is the need for socio-emotional support due to the pandemic on psychological aspects, such as fear, worry, loneliness, and others.Those negative feelings are common during pandemic as expressed by some participants that sometimes they felt anxious and afraid of being exposed to the virus and spreading it to others.This condition was exacerbated by social distancing protocol, resulting in lack of social support.During the pandemic, it seemed that physical distancing can lead to the perception of the emotional distance as well, which is detrimental to mental well-being as LL, 20 years old, said that "whenever our friends kept their distance when we were exposed to Covid-19, it was mentally destroyed us because we felt that they were afraid of us".Socio-emotional support is needed but physical distancing makes it hard to obtain, which can further lead to miscommunication.This is also supported by RTH, 25 years old, that sometimes there were misunderstandings due to limited interaction.
The second pattern is the change in how to maintain the quality of a friendship.Society are turning to digital communication media and meeting more virtually to maintain friendships for socio-emotional support.The majority of society are still adapting to virtual meetings at the beginning of the pandemic which sometimes causes boredom, but now people are used to virtual meetings.RTH, 25 years old, said that "so far, I don't feel bothered, thanks to the conveniences of technology providing support communication.At the beginning of the pandemic, I may have been annoyed and bored by doing everything online, but now I'm used to it".However, the effectiveness of this online communication seems to depend on the perceived interaction quality and how it benefits them.For people who prefer direct communication, the virtual meeting alternative might not have much positive effect.One of the participants, AM, 24, mentioned that humans need face-to-face interaction, not just through a screen.
Infrequent encounters can lead to strained relationships.For participants, occasionally meeting in person during the pandemic is important.Besides, for those who prioritize the frequency of communication and physical encounters, they can easily adapt to this change in relationship patterns.FTMH, 29 years old, stated "so far, this situation has not been too disturbing because at the beginning of the pandemic, we had reminded each other that the frequency of communication cannot be a standard for our friendship.And even though I felt lonely at first, our friendship has helped me to keep going and that I'm not alone".
The term toxic friend also emerged from the data collected, which refers to a friend who gives a negative impact on mental health.Toxic friends are considered to spread negative energy because they like to spread hoaxes related to Covid-19 and complain constantly because they feel the most miserable.Those situations might happen because they were scared and anxious about the impact of Covid-19.Another trait of toxic friends are those who make excuses for not following health protocols, even encouraging others to do the same thing.

D I S C U S S I O N
This study aimed to investigate the aspects or characteristics of friendship that either promote or hinder mental health.Qualities such as social support, effective communication, quality time, openness, emotional bonding, empathy, guidance and advice, as well as integrity were identified as protective factors to mental well-being.A friend with these qualities are classified as supportive friends.
Conversely, lack of social support, ineffective communication, emotional and physical distance, conflict, and the presence of "toxic" relationship dynamics such as judgment and coercion were considered risk factors for mental well-being.Additionally, certain negative personality traits and negative thoughts were found to be disadvantageous to mental well-being.The Covid-19 pandemic has significantly impacted the quality of friendship, particularly in terms of communication and quality time.Alternative communication media have become vital for maintaining interpersonal relationship and obtaining socio-emotional support.Fear and anxiety have emerged as factors prompting the dynamics in friendship, including shifts in perceptions of supportive and unsupportive friends, as well as identification of toxic friendship.
Covid-19 has significantly changed the pattern of social interaction between individuals.The effort made to stay in touch while maintaining distance is to use network-based media (Minza et al., 2022).This alternative is considered as a substitute for conventional face-to-face communication, with a relatively very high level of preference.Basically, social media, as a part of digital technology, could function as a medium to promote physiological and psychological health and personal self-development (Diefenbach, 2018).
Nonetheless, the use of network-based media, including social media for communication, can also have negative impacts.Excess digital exposure can lead to stress and anxiety, which can interfere with mental health.Rahardjo et al. (2021) showed that information overload influenced social media fatigue in students who are online learning during the Covid-19 pandemic.It was also revealed that mediated communication can give negative effects, an overload of information, boredom, and sickness.Regardless of the impact, this research has implications for the potential for online friendship in interpersonal Basically, friendship is an interpersonal relationship that involves interaction with others (Lea, 1989).
Friendship is also a symmetrical relationship and can be understood as a reciprocal and egalitarian relationship in which friends understand their relationship and treat each other equally (Leibowitz, 2018;Rubin & Bowker, 2018).In this relational domain, emotional aspects are dominant in supporting mental health.In line with previous literature, friendships have a positive impact on mental health as they fulfill important individual needs such as inclusion and affection (Baumeister & Leary, 1995) and provide consistent emotional bonds and a sense of belonging, which provides meaning and connection (Bauminger et al., 2008).Through reciprocal connectedness, friendships can lead to self-care and care for others (Clary et al., 2018), be a medium for providing positive social support, and self-validation which can then help one to fulfill various socioemotional needs and goals (Demir et al., 2007).
Friendships are consistently associated with happiness (Demir et al., 2013).Therefore, friendships that strongly support mental health are those that facilitate connection and socioemotional support.Related to this study, the relationship aspect relating to affective aspects is important to support mental health in friendships.
The findings of this study align with previous research regarding the positive influence of relational aspects on mental health within the context of friendship.However, there are specific findings pertaining to integrity, reminders, advice, and guidance that prompt us to delve into the moral aspects of friendship.The moral aspect of friendship has received relatively limited attention in the existing literature, despite its significance in shaping friendship (Minza et al., 2022).Based on this study's result, friends who support mental health are characterized by integrity, (being trustworthy, guiding, or reminding for the better).In the context of friendship during the Covid-19 pandemic, friends who consistently provide admonishment and reminders regarding proper behavior may effectively promote mental health.For instance, those who constantly emphasize the importance of complying to health protocols and the potential dangers of spreading misinformation.
Another noteworthy aspect to be further examined in this study is the emergence of the term toxic in the context of friendship mentioned by participants, which is associated with hindrances to mental health.It is important to acknowledge that the term toxic is widely used within psychological connotations, and its interpretation can vary.In Indonesian, toxic is similar to poisonous.Within the realm of literature, the term toxic is typically defined as harmful and poisonous relating to substances (KBBI Kemendikbud, 2022).The term toxic has also been adapted and popularized as a psychological term through any kind of social media.
Toxic relationships can be perceived differently because they appear to be perfect or healthy from the perspective of an outsider or observer, but are different from the perspective of the person experiencing them (Zahiduzzaman, 2015).Simply put, a toxic relationship is one in which a person feels unsupported, misunderstood, and demeaned or attacked.Some signs of toxic relationships include anger, frustration, unhappiness, and resentment directed at the partner (Julianto et al., 2020).In conclusion, a relationship that makes a person feel worse can become toxic over time (Evans, 2022), and can slowly have a negative impact on emotional conditions and cause internal conflict (Nihayah et al., 2021).Based on the research results, the perception of toxic friends is in line with previous literature, namely not supporting, not showing empathy, always complaining about their condition, and spreading hoaxes (as a form of anger and concern felt due to the impact of .
This research provides an understanding of how toxic perceptions can vary, especially in the realm of interpersonal relationships such as friendships.It is possible for one party to exhibit toxic behavior without necessarily being perceived as toxic by the other party.Therefore, this unique finding highlights the complex nature of interpersonal relationships, including friendships, and sheds light on the complexity of toxic perceptions and manifestations in these relationship dynamics.

C O N C L U S I O N
The results of this study show that supportive friendships are characterized by social support, communication, quality time, openness, emotional bonding, empathy, guidance or advice, and integrity.
In contrast, toxic friendship characteristics are indicated by lack of social support, ineffective communication, emotional and physical distance, conflict, personality, negative thoughts and feelings.
We determined themes of toxic tendencies in friendships that included judgmental behavior and imposing one's will on others.Perceptions of supportive and toxic friends may be influenced by the effectiveness of social support and its positive impact on mental health during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Fears and concerns experienced by individuals may also lead to toxic tendencies in friendships.To maintain the quality of friendships that support mental health, people have turned to alternative forms of communication and virtual interactions, although they may not fully fulfill the positive aspects of friendship.Nonetheless, the exploration of friendships during the Covid-19 pandemic has paved the way for further research into virtual friendships at the meso level of analysis.
This study has several limitations.First, the results cannot be generalized to a wider sample and context due to the disproportionate characteristics of the participants (majority female).Secondly, we did not include sociodemographic aspects in the analysis and discussion section of this study.Third, we did not conduct in-depth interviews on the results obtained from the open-ended questionnaire.

A C K N O W L E D G E M E N T S / U C A P A N T E R I M A K A S I H
Thanks to the Project Manager Team of Halo Jiwa Indonesia, especially research sub-teams, and Beyond Your Self team for helping to disseminate information to reach research participants./ Terima kasih kepada tim Project Manager Halo Jiwa Indonesia, khususnya sub-tim riset, dan tim Beyond Your Self yang telah membantu menyebarkan informasi untuk menjangkau para partisipan riset.

D I S C L O S U R E O F P O T E N T I A L C O N F L I C T S O F I N T E R E S T / D E K L A R A S I P O T E N S I T E R J A D I N Y A K O N F L I K K E P E N T I N G A N
Syurawasti Muhiddin, Claudia Rosari Dewi, and Sitti Muthia Maghfirah Massinai do not work for, be a consultant of, own any stock of, or receive funds from any company or organization that will profit INSAN Jurnal Psikologi dan Kesehatan Mental 2023, Vol.8(2), 235-262 doi: 10.20473/jpkm.v8i22023.235-262 INSAN Jurnal Psikologi dan Kesehatan Mental 2023, Vol.8(2), 235-262 doi: 10.20473/jpkm.v8i22023.235-262 INSAN Jurnal Psikologi dan Kesehatan Mental 2023, Vol.8(2), 235-262 doi: 10.20473/jpkm.v8i22023.235-262

Table 1 .
Sociodemographic Characteristics of Participants After participants expressed their willingness by filling out the informed consent sheet, they were directed to answer three open-ended questions about friendship experiences associated with the Covid-19 pandemic.For those who were unwilling to participate, they were directed to the end of the questionnaire without further questions.Participants' demographic data was filled in after they answered three open-ended questions.We enhance that there were no sensitive questions relating to the participant's history of illness or disorder.If participants felt uncomfortable while completing the questionnaire, they had the right to withdraw from the study.Data was collected in the first semester of 2022, during Covid-19 pandemic.We developed the questionnaire, which consisted of three open-ended questions about friendship experience associated with Covid-19 pandemic.Before distributing the questionnaire, we conducted a pilot and readability test involving 45 youths, which then used to revise the questionnaire.As a result, these are the revised three open-ended questions; (1) I think close friends are...; (2) According to your experience with your friends, how has the friendship supported your psychological and emotional health during the Covid-19 pandemic?Please elaborate; (3) in your experience with your friends, how has friendship interfered with your psychological and emotional health during the Covid-19 pandemic?

Table 2 .
Emerging Themes Jain et al. (2011)stated that social networks such as Facebook enable the exchange of various information, including text, images, sound, and video.Aspects that support mental health can be classified into two main categories according toMinza et al.  (2022), namely relational and personal aspects.Relational aspects include processes in interpersonal relationships, while personal aspects refer to intrapersonal dynamics.Relational aspects that support mental health are social support, communication, quality time together, openness and emotional bonding, direction, and advice.Meanwhile, relational aspects that can hinder mental health are lack of social support and effective communication, emotional and physical distance, conflict, and toxic tendencies in friendships.Supportive personal aspects are empathy and integrity, negative personalities, feelings, and thoughts are considered detrimental to mental health.