The COVID-19 pandemic has dramatically restricted adolescents' lives. We used nationwide Norwegian survey data from 2014-2021 (N = 227,258; ages 13-18) to examine psychosocial outcomes in adolescents before and during the pandemic. Multilevel models revealed higher depressive symptoms and less optimistic future life expectations during the pandemic, even when accounting for the measures' time trends. Moreover, alcohol and cannabis use decreased, and screen time increased. However, the effect sizes of all observed changes during the pandemic were small. Overall, conduct problems and satisfaction with social relationships remained stable. Girls, younger adolescents and adolescents from low socio-economic backgrounds showed more adverse changes during the pandemic. Estimated changes in psychosocial outcomes varied little with municipality infection rates and restrictions. These findings can inform means and interventions to reduce negative psychological outcomes associated with the pandemic and identify groups that need particular attention during and after the pandemic.
This paper examines cross-national differences in job preference orientations from the perspective of job quality. In particular, it investigates the extent to which preferences of workers in 25 developed societies are shaped by the intrinsic quality of jobs and its institutional determinants, as highlighted by varieties of capitalism (VoC) and power resources theory (PRT). The study uses multi-level models with country-specific random intercepts fitted to individual data from the International Social Survey Programme’s 2015 Work Orientations module, paired with institutional indicators from various sources. The results show that workers within countries tend to be oriented towards the same types of rewards that their jobs offer, with the intrinsic quality of work standing out as the most important factor of all. This logic extends to the cross-national variation in job preference orientations, which is strongly related to the average intrinsic quality of jobs in national labor markets and its institutional factors emphasized by PRT, rather than VoC.
Research indicates that the COVID-19 pandemic had adverse effects on adolescent well-being, particularly among vulnerable groups. However, little is known about the duration of these negative changes and whether they persisted after restrictions had been lifted. Addressing this question, we used data from more than 500,000 Norwegian adolescents assessed repeatedly between 2014 and 2022. Multilevel societal growth curve analyses showed that even after Norway lifted all pandemic-related restrictions, adolescents reported lower satisfaction with peer relationships and less optimistic future life expectations, but less feelings of loneliness compared to long-term nationwide trend estimates. Moderation analyses revealed that adolescents from poor families and with low parental educational attainment suffered more adverse changes both during and after the pandemic in in a variety of domains. These results provide the first indications that widening social inequality among adolescents brought forth during the pandemic might be of more permanent nature.
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