Mental Health Disorders among Students from Rural Areas Three Months after Returning to School: A Cross-Sectional Study among Polish Students

Abstract

Background: All over the world, the negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on children’s and adolescents’ mental health has been observed. The conducted research aims to verify whether returning to school, to education inside the classroom in the company of their peers, improved or undermined the students’ mental health. Methods: The study was carried out on a sample of students inhabiting rural areas in a borderland region. The research sample was collected using purposive sampling and consisted of 552 respondents from the seventh and eighth grades of primary school. An auditorium questionnaire was used to gather the research material. Results: Three months after returning to school, the students were in a poor mental state; 61% of the respondents were satisfied with their lives, while 52% showed symptoms of depression as measured with the WHO-5 index, whereas 85% of the respondents have average and high stress levels as measured with the PSSC scale. Higher levels of mental disorders were observed among female respondents and in those students living in villages and evaluating their financial status as worse. Conclusions: Returning to school failed to have a positive impact on the students’ mental health. Disorders occurring on a large scale will have a negative influence on the students’ performance and hinder their re-adaptation to the school environment. Educational authorities should immediately provide the students with support and monitor the situation over the coming months.

College Students’ Perceptions of and Place Attachment to Rural Areas: Case Study of Japan and China

“…The concerns of Chinese students reflect the lack of basic amenities and widespread poverty in rural areas, as well as the underfunding of rural education and its impact on access to education and personal and professional growth. With schools being underfunded and lacking resources to provide quality education this can lead to a lack of access to education and limited opportunities for personal and professional growth [74]. Gender inequality in rural areas is also a problem.…”

Is It Safe to Stay at Home? Parents’ Perceptions of Child Home Injuries during the COVID-19 Lockdown

“…On the other hand, preschool children were forced to be inside the house, most of the time without careful supervision, but they kept their playfulness, which led them to inside injuries [ 30 , 31 , 32 ]. A significantly high percentage of children’s accidents was observed in rural/island areas as well as in the suburbs, likely because it is more difficult to supervise children in such conditions compared to supervising the narrow space of an apartment or because children in rural areas are less exposed to social isolation and have a lack of contact with peers, so the accidents were not limited [ 33 ].…”

Perceived Mental Health among Identified Talented and Nonidentified Students from Indian Villages, Towns, and Cities During the COVID-19 Pandemic

“…For rural students, on the other hand, positive study environments pose a challenge due to limited space, poor infrastructure, financial constraints at home, and assignment of household and agricultural chores to children (Alcott & Rose, 2015). A study on rural Polish students returning to school three months after the COVID-19 pandemic (Długosz, 2022) showed higher level of mental disorders among students living in villages and evaluating their financial status as worse. This may have had a negative impact on the possibility of satisfying one's needs in terms of autonomy, privacy, or access to distance education (Deolmi & Pisani, 2020).…”