Brief Report: Predictors of Adolescent Mental Health and Wellbeing During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

Purpose: This study explored predictors of COVID-19-related stress and wellbeing of Scottish adolescents during the COVID-19 lockdown to identify potentially malleable risk and protective factors.Methods: 5,548 participants were surveyed regarding stress, loneliness, wellbeing, schoolwork, support from school, and interaction with friends and family. Multiple linear regressions within a structural equation modelling framework were fit to predict COVID-19-related stress and wellbeing during the UK’s first lockdown.Results: Loneliness, variables related to the ability to continue with schoolwork, and perceived support from school were important predictors of greater COVID-19-related stress and wellbeing during the first lockdown. Female adolescents were also more likely to show higher stress and poorer wellbeing.Conclusions: Facilitating meaningful social interaction and ensuring the ability to continue with schoolwork, and providing social support from school should be priority strategies to help protect the mental health and wellbeing of secondary school students during lockdowns and other disruptions to school attendance.

Long‐term factors associated with positive mental health outcomes for early adolescents during COVID‐19‐related school closures

“…Regarding lockdown experience, mean scores for this were significantly lower than those in phase 1, suggesting that adolescents had a harder and less enjoyable experience. This is consistent with several studies that have found the lockdown reduces wellbeing, and that the experience is worse the longer it lasts (Evans et al, 2021; Mead et al, 2020; Murat Baldwin et al, 2021). Furthermore, there is some evidence to suggest that adolescents experienced increased self‐harming behavior and a loss of hope and motivation for the future in the second UK lockdown, owing to the fact that the second lockdown was more difficult to cope with than the first (Wong et al, 2022; YoungMinds, 2021).…”