Resilience and coping behaviour among adolescents in a high-income city-state during the COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

The study aimed to determine the resilience of multi-ethnic, multi-cultural adolescent students in cosmopolitan Singapore, their coping abilities, and the impact on their social and physical activities during the COVID-19 pandemic and its association with their resilience. A total of 582 adolescents in post-secondary education institutes completed an online survey from June to November 2021. The survey assessed their sociodemographic status, resilience level using the Brief Resilience Scale (BRS) and Hardy-Gill Resilience Scale (HGRS), the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on their daily activities, life settings, social life, social interactions, and coping ability in these aspects of life. Poor ability to cope with school life (adjusted beta = − 0.163, 95% CI − 1.928 to 0.639, p < 0.001), staying home (adjusted beta = − 0.108, 95% CI = − 1.611 to − 0.126, p = 0.022), sports (adjusted beta = − 0.116, 95% CI − 1.691 to − 0.197, p = 0.013) and friends (adjusted beta = − 0.143, 95% CI − 1.904 to − 0.363, p = 0.004) were associated with statistically significant low resilience level measured with HGRS. About half and a third of the participants reported normal and low resilience, respectively, based on BRS (59.6%/32.7%) and HGRS (49.0%/29.0%) scores. Adolescents of Chinese ethnicity and low socioeconomic status had comparatively lower resilience scores. Approximately half of the adolescents in this study had normal resilience despite the COVID-19 pandemic. Adolescents with lower resilience tended to have lower coping abilities. The study did not compare changes in the social life and coping behaviour of the adolescents due to COVID-19, as data on these aspects prior to the pandemic was unavailable.

The mental condition of Polish adolescents during the COVID-19 pandemic and war in Ukraine

“…Similar results were reported in a multicultural community study of adolescents in Singapore, where it was found that, despite the pandemic, about 50 per cent of the adolescents under study presented an average level of resilience, rather than a lower one, as it was assumed. Lower levels of resilience were specifically associated with poorer coping skills and lower socio-economic status, which in Singapore is the case of the minority of young people of Chinese origin ( 48 ).…”

“…In clinical terms, this is an indicator of a reduced sense of security, which is lower in adolescents aged 14 and 15. This is perhaps the result of emotional imbalance increasing with age, therefore there is a developmentally justified search for security in the relationship with parents ( 45 , 48 ). However, it cannot be excluded, either, that adolescents express their concern with tragic events and with this infrequent developmental burden.…”

“…However, it cannot be excluded, either, that adolescents express their concern with tragic events and with this infrequent developmental burden. It may have greater significance and stronger effects on the emotional state of older adolescents who perceive psychology-related changes more strongly and make more conscious judgements regarding the resources and risks present in the environment in comparison to the adolescents at an earlier stage of adolescence who are more focused on the biological changes ( 48 ). This effect is gender-related because boys, the older they get, are generally more anxious and prone to depressive reactions.…”