Trajectories of adolescent perceived stress and symptoms of depression and anxiety during the COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

Adolescents might be particularly affected by the drastic social changes as a consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic, given the increased stress-sensitivity and importance of the social environment in this developmental phase. In order to examine heterogeneity during the pandemic, the current study aimed to identify whether subgroups of adolescents could be distinguished based on their levels of perceived stress and symptoms of depression and anxiety. In addition, we examined which prepandemic factors predicted these trajectories. Adolescents were assessed before the pandemic (N = 188, Mage = 13.49, SD = 0.81) and at three timepoints during the pandemic (i.e., eight, ten, and 15 months after the start of the pandemic in the Netherlands). Results showed no support for distinct trajectories of perceived stress, adolescents experienced stable moderate levels during the pandemic. In contrast, results showed three trajectories for depression and anxiety. The majority of adolescents reported stable low or moderate levels and one small subgroup reported high levels of depression and anxiety that decreased during the pandemic. Certain prepandemic factors predicted higher initial levels of stress and symptoms of depression and anxiety during the pandemic. To support adolescents with prepandemic vulnerabilities, strategies could be developed, for instance enhancing adolescents’ social support.

Significant Increase in Deliberate Self-Poisonings Among Adolescents During the Second Year of the COVID-19 Pandemic

“…Far-reaching socially isolating measures could have a profound effect on mental wellbeing of adolescents, although recent studies show conflicting results. Several studies have shown signs of deteriorating mental health among adolescents during the COVID-19 pandemic [ 20 , [22] , [23] , [24] , [25] , [26] , [27] , [28] , [29] , [30] , [31] , [32] ], whereas studies from the Netherlands, Sweden, and Canada showed no difference or even a decrease in the incidence of mental health problems in 2020 compared to pre-COVID-19 years in adolescents [ [33] , [34] , [35] , [36] , [37] ]. Since most of these studies were conducted within the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, the study period could have been too short to observe robust changes in mental health.…”

COVID‐19‐related stress exacerbates the effect of child maltreatment on negative affect via increased identity confusion during adolescence

“…The COVID-19 pandemic increased the risk for psychological distress among adolescents, likely due to pandemic-related changes such as isolation from peers and an increased responsibility within the home (Magson et al, 2021;Racine et al, 2021). Previous research in adolescents demonstrated that having problems in the process of identity formation before the pandemic predicted higher levels of anxiety and depressive symptoms during the pandemic (van Loon et al, 2022). In light of these findings, we theorize that prepandemic vulnerabilities, such as the history of child maltreatment, can undermine identity development.…”

“…Lastly, we tested the moderating effect of COVID-19-related stress on the association between identity confusion and negative affect. Based on previous research (Fioretti et al, 2020;Scott et al, 2014;van Loon et al, 2022), we expected that COVID-19-related stress would exacerbate the link between identity confusion and increased negative affect over time (see Figure 1 for the conceptual model).…”

Heterogeneous trajectories of perceived stress and their associations with active leisure: a longitudinal study during the first year of COVID-19

“…However, such cross-sectional studies do not allow the examination of potentially distinct trajectory groups of stress developments over time. To our knowledge, the only published longitudinal investigation employing a person-centered approach for the examination of changes in perceived stress levels during the pandemic has been conducted among adolescents [age 12–15 years, ( 16 )]. This study found no support for distinct trajectories of perceived stress.…”