When Life Meets Livelihood: Impact of Financial Stress on Psychological Wellbeing of Business Entrepreneurs and Salaried Individuals and the way Forward with Brief Structured Psychotherapy

CONTEXT: The COVID-19 pandemic and the ensuing lockdown are affecting business entrepreneurs and service sector individuals emotionally and financially. AIMS: To assess financial stress and its impact on quality of life (QOL) and overall stress amongst business entrepreneurs and service employees. To explore the protective effects of existential thinking and positive coping styles and compare the efficacy of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) and Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT). SETTINGS AND DESIGN: 1000 businessmen and service employees between 18-60 years were included in this cross sectional, randomized group design comparative study. METHODS AND MATERIALS: Covid 19 Fear Scale, Perceived Stress Scale, Financial Stress Scale, WHO QOL Scale, Brief Cope, Existential Concern Questionnaire, Existential thinking Scale were administered. Forty people from each group were randomly allocated to weekly group sessions of ACT or CBT. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS: ANOVA, ANCOVA, Independent sample and paired t tests, Hierarchical correlation. RESULT: Financial stress was higher in businessmen. QOL was higher among serviceholders. Financial stress had positive association with Covid fear, low per capita income, avoidance coping. QOL had negative association with perceived stress, existential concerns. ACT was more effective than CBT. CONCLUSION: There is significant difference in financial stress and QOL between businessmen and serviceholders. Psychotherapy is an effective intervention.