COVID-19 pandemic and adolescent mental health in China: Micro evidence and socioeconomic mechanisms

Abstract

Although the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on adolescent mental health has received sufficient attention in the medical and public health fields, analysis from the social science perspective is still lacking. By regarding the shock of COVID-19 pandemic as a quasi-natural experiment, this study adopts the Difference-in-Differences (DID) model and large microdata from Shandong Province, China, to identify the causal effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on the mental health of senior high school students. We find that the COVID-19 pandemic results in an increase of 2.5677 points in adolescent psychological problem scores, equivalent to an average decrease of 29.93% in mental health. Furthermore, results of mechanism tests show that this negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on adolescent mental health can be explained by a reduction in social trust, as well as widening inequalities caused by the digital divide and family income gap. Moreover, the estimates suggest that the COVID-19 pandemic has a greater negative influence on the mental health of boys and urban adolescents. Our study complements the research field on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on adolescent mental health and the potential socioeconomic mechanisms from a new perspective. These findings provide insights into how to safeguard adolescent mental health in China and other countries in the pandemic prevention and post-pandemic era.

Parental Involvement, Academic Self-Efficacy, and Depression on Academic Performance Among Chinese Students During COVID-19 Pandemic

“…The COVID-19 pandemic has adverse mental health consequences among Chinese K-12 students, including depressive symptoms, emotional symptoms, stress symptoms, anxiety, inattention, peer relationship problems, and posttraumatic stress disorders (PTSD). [55][56][57][58] These mental health problems can affect a K-12 student's energy level, concentration, optimism, mental capability, and dependability, which can hinder his or her academic performance. 59 We found that students with high household incomes, students with higher intelligence quotients, and students who read books are more likely to have good academic performance.…”

Exploring the relationship between unemployment perception and health during COVID-19: a comparative study of rural and urban adults in China

“…Since the first infected case was reported in December 2019, China has implemented strict lockdown measures such as the “zero-COVID” policy through extensive testing, contact tracing, and quarantine apparatus (Normile, 2021 ; Wang et al, 2021 ). Several studies have found that the pandemic elevated the level of stress and anxiety across different age cohorts in China (Hu et al, 2021 ; Chen B. et al, 2022 ; Yang et al, 2022 ). On the other hand, although China had the lowest GDP growth rate 1 (2.2%) and the highest unemployment rate 2 (4.2%) in 2020 in the last decade, it was one of the very few countries having positive GDP growth during the pandemic (World-Bank, 2022 ).…”