How the COVID-19 Pandemic Affected Young People’s Mental Health and Wellbeing in the UK: A Qualitative Study

Abstract

There is emerging evidence of the detrimental impact of the pandemic and associated restrictions on young people’s mental health in the UK but to date, these data have been largely quantitative. The aim of the current study was to gain a deeper understanding of young people’s experiences in relation to their mental health and wellbeing during the pandemic. Seventeen young people, aged 11 to 16 years, sampled for diverse characteristics, and living in the UK, were interviewed virtually between December 2020 and February 2021. Reflexive thematic analysis was carried out by the research team, which included two young people, and five themes were developed: (1) positives; (2) worries and anxiety; (3) sadness and anger about losses; (4) mental exhaustion; and (5) support from others. Aspects of young people’s individual circumstances (e.g., pre-existing mental health difficulties; special educational needs and neurodevelopmental disorders) appeared to play a role in their experiences. Continued measurement of young people’s mental health, initiatives to identify young people who have been struggling and the provision of support (including evidence-based and accessible interventions) will be important for protecting young people from future adversities as we emerge from the pandemic.

Changes in UK parental mental health symptoms over 10 months of the COVID‐19 pandemic

“…Also of note, this mirrored the pattern of mental health symptoms seen in the children of the same sample (Creswell et al, 2021) in line with previous evidence suggesting a bidirectional relationship between parental and child mental health (Luningham et al, 2022). Unlike including disruptions to sleep, mood and quality of relationships (Illingworth et al, 2022) as well as ongoing concerns about disruption, delays and uncertainty in education and recreational activities at a key point in the young person's life that may have a significant bearing on their future (Pearcey et al, 2022).…”

“…Of note, parents of secondary‐school‐aged children (aged 11–17 years) exhibited a potentially additive effect of lockdowns and restrictions with greater continuous increases in mental health symptoms from the start of the pandemic. This increase in mental health symptoms in parents of adolescent children may reflect stress and changes in mood caused by the impact that the pandemic had on adolescents themselves; including disruptions to sleep, mood and quality of relationships (Illingworth et al., 2022 ) as well as ongoing concerns about disruption, delays and uncertainty in education and recreational activities at a key point in the young person's life that may have a significant bearing on their future (Pearcey et al., 2022 ).…”

Emotionally Based School Avoidance in the Aftermath of the COVID-19 Pandemic: Neurodiversity, Agency and Belonging in School

“…Over a fifteen-month period from the start of the first lockdown, the majority of participants followed stable trajectories of low or moderate mental health difficulties; however, a smaller group showed very high/high stable or increasing trajectories [32]. Qualitative findings suggest that young people reported an enduring sense of unease during periods of lockdown, tending to ruminate, worry about the future and express concerns both about the loss of time at school and their safety when attending school in person [33].…”

Widening the screen: embodied cognition and audiovisual online social interaction in the digital age

“…The emergence of Audiovisual Online Social Interaction (AVOI) 1 as a means of cultural practice in the aftermath of the pandemic has brought to the fore certain psychological ramifications that are cause for concern, including a decline in overall well-being (Pearcey et al, 2023;von Mohr Ballina et al, 2021). Specifically, loneliness (Landmann & Rohmann, 2022;McKenna-Plumley et al, 2021), depression (McKenna-Plumley et al, 2021), anxiety (Brewer et al, 2022;Smith et al, 2020), and the development of coping mechanisms (Raj & Bajaj, 2023).…”