A Cross-Sectional Study Investigating Canadian and Australian Adolescents’ Perceived Experiences of COVID-19: Gender Differences and Mental Health Implications

Abstract

The coronavirus (COVID-19) disease pandemic has been associated with adverse psychological outcomes. This cross-cultural study (N = 1326, 71% female) aimed to investigate Canadian and Australian adolescents’ subjective experiences of COVID-19, gender differences, and psychological implications. Mixed-methods analyses were used to examine differences in COVID-19 experiences and mental health outcomes between country and gender in a Canadian (N = 913, 78% female) and an Australian sample (N = 413, 57% female) of adolescents. Canadian adolescents reported increased COVID-19 discussions and more concerns related to their COVID-19 experiences compared to Australian adolescents. Girls consistently reported more concerns related to COVID-19 and poorer psychological outcomes compared to boys. School lockdown for the Canadian sample may have played a role in these country differences. Further, girls might be at significantly more risk for mental health concerns during COVID-19, which should be considered in adolescent mental health initiatives during the pandemic. Although school disruption and separation of peers due to the pandemic likely have a role in adolescent perceived stressors and mental health, the differences between Canadian and Australian adolescents were less clear and future investigations comparing more objective pre-COVID-19 data to current data are needed.

COVID-19 Pandemic and International Students’ Mental Health in China: Age, Gender, Chronic Health Condition and Having Infected Relative as Risk Factors

“…In terms of biographical data, findings from the ANOVA indicate that female international students are more depressed and stressed out than male international students. This finding is consistent with previous studies using university students' samples [50][51][52] and even among adolescents [53]. For Hakami et al's [51] study, they discovered that junior females who lived alone were particularly at risk of severe to extreme psychological distress.…”

A Mixed-Methods Study of Compassionate Mind Training for Pupils (CMT-Pupils) as a School-Based Wellbeing Intervention

“…Higher scores reflect a tendency towards greater perceived stress and anxiety. Internal consistency of this scale is reported as acceptable α = 0.78 (Marie et al, 2022). For the present study, α = 0.84.…”

Being a Social Studies Teacher and Student in the COVID-19 Period

“…Similar to this result, Özalkan (2020) stated that the number of current students attending the courses during the distance education period was less than half. Research has shown that some similar studies have been conducted in parallel with the result of the behavioural problems seen in students during the face-to-face education period (Duan et al, 2020;Marie et al, 2022;Uçkaç, 2020). Furthermore, some other studies have been found in the related literature, in which such similar results as students' lack of computers and tablets have been reported (Aydemir, 2021;Aydın, 2021;Balaman & Hanbay Tiryaki 2021;Çilek et al, 2021;Çok, 2021;Deli, 2021;Demir & Özdaş, 2020;Karaibiş, 2021;Kavuk & Demirtaş, 2021;Laçin, 2021;Morgan, 2020;Noyan, 2022;Özdemir, 2021;Sertkaya Dinler, 2022;Seyhan, 2021;Tanta, 2021;Toraman & Kayalar, 2020;Wössmann, 2020;Uyar, 2020;Yeşilyurt, 2021;Yılmaz et al, 2021).…”