How the COVID-19 Pandemic Changed Adolescents’ Use of Technologies, Sense of Community, and Loneliness: A Retrospective Perception Analysis

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought important changes to how we engage in relationships of any kind. To combat the spread of the virus, schools resorted to remote-learning, and teenagers had to rely on various technologies to meet many of the needs that they used to satisfy offline (e.g., social, informational, and recreational/leisure purposes). This article was written to investigate the changes that the students at an Italian high school went through in terms of use of technologies, loneliness, and sense of community, through a survey focusing on their retrospective perceptions. The study was carried out on 917 students. In general, we have found that the COVID-19 pandemic has greatly increased the perception of loneliness in teenagers (especially in female respondents), as well as their use of technologies for social, informational, and leisure purposes. However, maybe thanks to the opportunities provided by ICTs and remote learning, the sense of community in Italian teenagers was only marginally impacted.

Changes in Depression and Anxiety Among Children and Adolescents From Before to During the COVID-19 Pandemic

“…In general, depression and anxiety are twice as common in female youth compared to male youth 103 ; this sex difference appears to arise after puberty 104 and persists across the lifecourse. 105 Potential explanations for the sex difference in COVID-19 pandemic-related changes in depression include a greater propensity to ruminate, 106 higher reported rates of loneliness, 107 and increased exposure to adversity and violence 108 as well as social media use among female young people compared to their male counterparts. 107 In contrast, male youth are more likely to exhibit externalizing symptoms (eg, aggression and violence), 109 and as such, consideration of internalizing (ie, depression and anxiety) symptoms in isolation may underestimate the magnitude of mental distress and pandemic-related behavioral change among boys.…”

“…105 Potential explanations for the sex difference in COVID-19 pandemic-related changes in depression include a greater propensity to ruminate, 106 higher reported rates of loneliness, 107 and increased exposure to adversity and violence 108 as well as social media use among female young people compared to their male counterparts. 107 In contrast, male youth are more likely to exhibit externalizing symptoms (eg, aggression and violence), 109 and as such, consideration of internalizing (ie, depression and anxiety) symptoms in isolation may underestimate the magnitude of mental distress and pandemic-related behavioral change among boys. Future research examining internalizing and externalizing symptoms in tandem is needed to gain a more comprehensive perspective on sex differences.…”

Social Overview of Smartphone Use by Teenagers

“…Some reasons that may have contributed to the expansion of gamification in schools lie in the technological profile of teenagers [ 31 ]. Moreover, schools resorted to remote-learning, and teenagers hadto rely on various technologies, for example during the pandemic [ 32 ].…”

PE-Iv (Panorama Education-Italian version): the adaptation/validation of 5 scales, a step towards a SEL approach in Italian schools

“…A possible explanation for this result is that these particular skills are not systematically promoted amongst students in Italian schools, nor is there a systemic approach in the school context, in spite of the existence of projects which do target the development of these skills ( Giannotta and Weichold, 2016 ; Rabaglietti et al, 2021 ). In addition, the data were collected during the COVID-19 pandemic, an unusual period in which teaching had already taken place at a distance for an extended period of time, which had a particular impact on the relational side of high school students ( Guazzini et al, 2022 ). With fewer interactions in the physical presence of each other, this may have resulted in an overall weaker relationship between Sense of Belonging and level of Social Awareness.…”