Disruptions to School and Home Life Among High School Students During the COVID-19 Pandemic — Adolescent Behaviors and Experiences Survey, United States, January–June 2021

Abstract

Youths have experienced disruptions to school and home life since the COVID-19 pandemic began in March 2020. During January–June 2021, CDC conducted the Adolescent Behaviors and Experiences Survey (ABES), an online survey of a probability-based, nationally representative sample of U.S. public- and private-school students in grades 9–12 (N = 7,705). ABES data were used to estimate the prevalence of disruptions and adverse experiences during the pandemic, including parental and personal job loss, homelessness, hunger, emotional or physical abuse by a parent or other adult at home, receipt of telemedicine, and difficulty completing schoolwork. Prevalence estimates are presented for all students and by sex, race and ethnicity, grade, sexual identity, and difficulty completing schoolwork. Since the beginning of the pandemic, more than half of students found it more difficult to complete their schoolwork (66%) and experienced emotional abuse by a parent or other adult in their home (55%). Prevalence of emotional and physical abuse by a parent or other adult in the home was highest among students who identified as gay, lesbian, or bisexual (74% emotional abuse and 20% physical abuse) and those who identified as other or questioning (76% and 13%) compared with students who identified as heterosexual (50% and 10%). Overall, students experienced insecurity via parental job loss (29%), personal job loss (22%), and hunger (24%). Disparities by sex and by race and ethnicity also were noted. Understanding health disparities and student disruptions and adverse experiences as interconnected problems can inform school and community initiatives that promote adolescent health and well-being. With community support to provide coordinated, cross-sector programming, schools can facilitate linkages to services that help students address the adverse experiences that they faced during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Public health and health care professionals, communities, schools, families, and adolescents can use these findings to better understand how students’ lives have been affected during the pandemic and what challenges need to be addressed to promote adolescent health and well-being during and after the pandemic.

How Do Perceived Changes in Child and Adolescent Activities Relate to Perceptions of Health during COVID-19? Exploring Heterogeneity during the Pandemic

“…In one systematic review, it was estimated that child depression nearly doubled from 13% to 25% and anxiety from 12% to 21% [ 8 ]. Other studies have found obesity rates in children and adolescents increased from 19% to 22% within the first year of the pandemic, while physical activity and nutrition decreased [ 5 , 11 , 12 ].…”

“…In the United States, these disruptions to child and adolescent activities and changes in PH and MH have been inequitably distributed across race/ethnicity [ 6 , 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 , 17 , 18 , 19 ]. School closures and provision of online or in-person schooling varied by race/ethnicity, as did access to various school activities [ 12 , 13 , 20 ]. Prevalence of MH disorders (e.g., anxiety and depression) have also been found to be much higher among Black and Hispanic children and adolescents [ 21 ].…”

“…Prevalence of MH disorders (e.g., anxiety and depression) have also been found to be much higher among Black and Hispanic children and adolescents [ 21 ]. Research also indicates Black children and adolescents experienced greater increases in obesity, lower levels of physical activity, and worse nutrition during the COVID-19 pandemic [ 5 , 9 , 12 , 22 ].…”

Primary care and COVID – Opportunities abound

“…Primary care clinicians will be busy for the foreseeable future, continuing to manage COVID testing, vaccination, and disease; managing other childhood illnesses; and helping families address COVID-related issues like delayed lead screening, routine immunization, and the negative mental health burden most visible in teenagers. 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 Burkhardt et al have created a document that will support primary care clinicians as they strive to provide high quality health care to children and address the inevitable future challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic and its sequelae.…”

Tracking child mental health: A sea change in conceptualizing critical variables

“…Additional aspects of ABES help us reach a broader understanding of child mental health, not just the impact of family hardship and school connectedness but also the negative impact of perceived racism on mental health (Mpofu et al, 2022). The data also point to the complexity of factors that negatively impact mental health such as the intersectionality of social determinants of health and adverse experiences particularly among gay, lesbian, or bisexual students (Krause et al, 2022). Thus, by the questions it asked, the ABES offers an explication of the specific ways family, community, and environment impact mental health.…”