Schoolless life and mental health of public-school students in the COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

This study analyzes the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on students’ mental health during part of the suspension of in-person classes. The study is a cross-sectional survey carried out from October2020 to December 2020. An online self-report questionnaire was answered by thirteen- to twenty-year old students, from the 9th grade (Middle School) to high school, who followed remote school activities in 21 state and municipal public schools located in peripheral areas of the cities of São Paulo and Guarulhos. Two linear regression models were used in the analysis, considering as dependent variables the depression scores as provided by the Child Depression Inventory and anxiety by the SCARED (Screen for Child Anxiety Related Emotional Disorders). The time of exposure to the screens, the inversion of sleep periods and the female gender, along with the difficulties of remote education and other social markers (such as color/race and cases of COVID-19 at home) are associated with symptoms of depression and anxiety during the first wave of the COVID-19 in the Metropolitan area of São Paulo. The findings reinforce the importance of school routine in the lives of those young people and the challenges posed to schools to promote students’ mental health in the post-pandemic reality.

Health-Related Quality of Life and Depressive Symptomatology in High School Students during the Lockdown Period Due to SARS-CoV-2

“…On the other hand, we can currently find that many countries have decided to return to face-to-face classes in order to minimize the problems generated by the confinement and, in addition to the fact that there is now a vaccine for SARS-CoV-2, it is intended that normality will slowly return, which raises new questions related to the return to face-to-face classes, but at the same time, new studies with relevant information has been generated in recent months [ 17 , 18 ]; for example, Puteikis and collaborators found that going back to school has a direct negative impact on the quality of sleep of students, but at the same time, it is beneficial in the academic development and physical activity of students [ 19 ].…”