A network analysis of high school and college students’ COVID-19-related concerns, self-regulatory skills, and affect.

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted the lives of many high school and college students, and recent studies indicate increased emotional distress in this age group. We examined associations among 10 pandemic-related concerns, 21 affects, and three self-regulatory skills using cross-sectional online survey data from high school and college students in two regions of the United States (Study 1: N = 392 and Study 2: N = 1,200). Network models of regularized partial correlation networks revealed both equifinal and multifinal pathways between specific COVID-19 concerns and positive and negative affects. In both studies, concern about conflict with parents was the pandemic-related concern most strongly connected to negative affects, mindfulness was most strongly connected to pandemic-related concerns and negative affects, and self-compassion was most strongly connected to positive affects. These findings provide greater insight into risk and resilience factors associated with students’ emotional well-being during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Network analysis of anxiety and depression in the functionally impaired elderly

“…The cross-community edges displayed in the network structure represented the fine-grained relationships between anxiety and depression, and these relationships help maintain comorbidity and may reflect the potential interactions of anxiety and depression in the functionally impaired elderly ( 58 , 59 ). Therefore, the crucial edges connecting the anxiety and depression communities are discussed.…”

The relationships between anxiety and suicidal ideation and between depression and suicidal ideation among Chinese college students: A network analysis

“…This study is the first to explore the relationships between anxiety and suicidal ideation and between depression and suicidal ideation at the symptom level. The edges bridging different communities represent the psychopathological pathways between mental disorders, which helps understand the underlying interaction mechanism of comorbidity [ 50 , 51 ]. In view of this, we discuss the key cross-community edges in the network models.…”

College and COVID-19: The Pandemic's reverberations on adolescents and emerging adults on campus

“…Socially, support moderated loneliness for some college students, with parent and friend relationships specifically playing important roles [ 40 , 41 , 48 ]. Internally, some studies have pointed toward mindsets that helped foster resilience and possibly buffered negative emotional strain, including gratitude and hope [ 49 ], mindfulness [ 50 ], and self-fulfillment and solidarity with others [ 14 ].…”