Promoting youth mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic: A longitudinal study

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has introduced novel stressors into the lives of youth. Identifying factors that protect against the onset of psychopathology in the face of these stressors is critical. We examine a wide range of factors that may protect youth from developing psychopathology during the pandemic. We assessed pandemic-related stressors, internalizing and externalizing psychopathology, and potential protective factors by combining two longitudinal samples of children and adolescents (N = 224, 7–10 and 13–15 years) assessed prior to the pandemic, during the stay-at-home orders, and six months later. We evaluated how family behaviors during the stay-at-home orders were related to changes in psychopathology during the pandemic, identified factors that moderate the association of pandemic-related stressors with psychopathology, and determined whether associations varied by age. Internalizing and externalizing psychopathology increased substantially during the pandemic. Higher exposure to pandemic-related stressors was associated with increases in internalizing and externalizing symptoms early in the pandemic and six months later. Having a structured routine, less passive screen time, lower exposure to news media about the pandemic, and to a lesser extent more time in nature and getting adequate sleep were associated with reduced psychopathology. The association between pandemic-related stressors and psychopathology was reduced for youths with limited passive screen time and was absent for children, but not adolescents, with lower news media consumption related to the pandemic. We provide insight into simple, practical steps families can take to promote resilience against mental health problems in youth during the COVID-19 pandemic and protect against psychopathology following pandemic-related stressors.

Unprecedented times and uncertain connections: A systematic review examining sleep problems and screentime during the COVID-19 pandemic

“…Thus, clinical strategies to improve sleep, such as training in diaphragmatic breathing for relaxation [24] , routine sleep assessment and intervention by health providers [15] , and initiatives to address sleep hygiene and consistent sleep schedules [17] , are essential. Researchers also discovered that appropriate levels of sleep and less passive time spent on screen-based devices decreased psychopathology in youth during the COVID-19 pandemic [35] .…”

Flexibility to Change the Solution: An Indicator of Problem Solving That Predicted 9th Grade Students’ Academic Achievement during Distance Learning, in Parallel to Reasoning Abilities and Parental Education

“…The pandemic period and the distance learning have raised questions globally about which skills, abilities and other factors (e.g., external factors such as support from parents or teachers) are crucial for students to maintain their academic performance and well-being as much as possible during this time ( Rosen et al 2021 ; Hacatrjana 2021a ), and some recent data have indicated a decrease in students’ academic performance that is probably due to the pandemic ( Engzell et al 2021 ). In this study, the focus is particularly on the individual aspects related to the students’ own skills and abilities to deal with the new situation.…”

Loneliness in Young Adults During the First Wave of COVID-19 Lockdown: Results From the Multicentric COMET Study

“…Loneliness itself has been referred to as an epidemic, and there have been heightened concerns about its effects during the COVID-19 pandemic (8,(44)(45)(46). Therefore, it is essential to evaluate the type of impact of the pandemic and the levels of loneliness experienced by young people (47). By disentangling such complex relationship between pandemic and loneliness, it would be possible to develop ad-hoc preventive strategies targeting the young people (48)(49)(50), which are expected to be the most severely hit by the long-term consequences of the pandemic (51)(52)(53).…”