“Stay home so this can be over:” A national study of youth perspectives on social distancing during the COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

Social distancing is an important public health recommendation that has been implemented to reduce the spread of COVID-19. Infections are rising among younger populations, but relatively little is known about youth social distancing behavior. Our qualitative study aims to examine youth engagement with social distancing and elucidate the reasons why guidelines are followed and broken. Members of the national MyVoice Text Message Cohort (aged 14–24) were surveyed from April 24 to April 30, 2020, through an open-ended text message poll. Responses were inductively coded and analyzed with descriptive statistics. Of the 944 youth who responded (response rate = 81.2%), 95% self-reported social distancing. However, 62% recalled instances of themselves or others breaking the guidelines and 19% expressed misconceptions about the rules. Notably, 14% of youth said they would encourage their friends to social distance by telling them it will accelerate a return to normal life. Feelings of social isolation were the most frequently cited (55%) negative impact of social distancing. Overall, responses from youth indicate significant variation in the interpretation of social distancing guidelines. Public health communications may need to address several critical misconceptions which impact the social distancing behaviors of youth. Further, safe methods for youth to interact with peers during periods of social distancing are necessary to prevent mental health impacts and to ensure adherence to social distancing guidelines.

Investigating COVID-19 risk perception and preventive behaviours in third-level students in Ireland

“…Similar to previous literature ( Dunn et al, 2021 ), while third-level students reported moderate levels of risk perception, they still engage in high levels of preventive behaviours. This may be due to the fact that, while young adults perceive lower risk for themselves personally, they are still concerned about the elderly and the more vulnerable individuals in the society, and therefore engage in preventive behaviours to protect these individuals ( Liekefett & Becker, 2020 ).…”

School Parks as a Community Health Resource: Use of Joint-Use Parks by Children before and during COVID-19 Pandemic

“…Regarding COVID-19 protective health behaviors, we observed that most children at joint-use parks outside of school hours did not maintain social distance or wear a face covering. Low levels of adherence to social distancing of observed children were different from the high levels of adherence to social distancing of adolescents and young adults in the US [30,31]. Our finding that most children did not wear face coverings was comparable to that of a US-based study of individuals aged 2-30 [32].…”

“…Among the potential reasons for limited adherence to COVID-19 protective health behaviors were that children and their guardians might have believed COVID-19 was not a health concern warranting behavior change and/or risk of viral transmission was lower outdoors. In addition, evolving and competing COVID-19 orders at both the city-and school district-level may have caused confusion: in a study of 944 youth aged 14-24 across the United States, 19% of youth reported misconceptions about social distancing guidelines as a reason for non-compliance [31]. Limited compliance with social distancing guidelines may have also been related to the type and location of park amenities.…”

“…No studies have focused on whether children practiced social distancing during the pandemic. Regarding adolescents and young adults, one study has found 83.5% of adolescents aged 13-18 years in the US reported engaging in social distancing "either a lot or a great deal" [30], and another study has found 95% of American youth aged 14-24 reported social distancing to some extent [31]. The single US-based study that assessed whether children wore face coverings revealed 37% of individuals aged 2-30 wore face coverings in retail locations in Wisconsin [32].…”

Psychological impact of the COVID‐19 pandemic on young professionals in blood banks and transfusion services: A global cross‐sectional survey

“…The COVID-19 pandemic brought about economic challenges, lifestyle disruption, loss of occupation, restriction of movement, lockdowns, social isolation and loneliness, which have been associated with negative mental health outcomes including anxiety and depression [17,18]. Surveys conducted during the pandemic have shown youth adherence to social distancing measures driven by public recommendations and protecting the health of others [5,19], with women being more likely to engage in these health behaviours than men [20]. As such, the negative impact of COVID-19 on our survey respondents is not unexpected, with general population studies showing higher rates of anxiety, depression and distress among young adults and females [21][22][23][24].…”