Adolescents' Motivations to Engage in Social Distancing During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Associations With Mental and Social Health

Reducing the spread of infection during the COVID-19 pandemic prompted recommendations for individuals to socially distance. Little is known about the extent to which youth are socially distancing, what motivations underlie their social distancing, and how these motivations are connected with amount...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of adolescent health Vol. 67; no. 2; pp. 179 - 185
Main Authors: Oosterhoff, Benjamin, Palmer, Cara A., Wilson, Jenna, Shook, Natalie
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: United States Elsevier Inc 01.08.2020
Elsevier BV
Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine
Subjects:
Adolescent
Adolescent Behavior - psychology
Adolescents
Anxiety
Belonging
Belongingness
Burdensomeness
Coronavirus Infections - epidemiology
Coronavirus Infections - prevention & control
COVID-19
Depression
Female
Humans
Individual differences
Male
Mental depression
Mental Disorders - epidemiology
Mental health
Motivation
Pandemics
Pandemics - prevention & control
Pneumonia, Viral - epidemiology
Pneumonia, Viral - prevention & control
Respondents
Social anxiety
Social distancing
Social Isolation - psychology
Social media
Social networks
Social responsibility
Symptoms
Teenagers
United States - epidemiology
United States
United States > US
COVID-19
Motivation
Social distancing
Depression
Burdensomeness
Anxiety
Belongingness
ISSN:1054-139X, 1879-1972, 1879-1972
Online Access:Get full text
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Summary:Reducing the spread of infection during the COVID-19 pandemic prompted recommendations for individuals to socially distance. Little is known about the extent to which youth are socially distancing, what motivations underlie their social distancing, and how these motivations are connected with amount of social distancing, mental health, and social health. Using a large sample of adolescents from across the United States, this study examined adolescents' motivations for social distancing, their engagement in social distancing, and their mental and social health. Data were collected on March 29th and 30th, 2020, two weeks after COVID-19 was declared a national emergency in the United States. The sample consisted of 683 adolescents recruited using social media. A series of multiple linear regressions examined unique associations among adolescents' motivations to engage in social distancing, perceived amount of social distancing, anxiety symptoms, depressive symptoms, burdensomeness, and belongingness. Almost all respondents (98.1%) reported engaging in at least a little social distancing. The most commonly reported motivations for social distancing concerned social responsibility and not wanting others to get sick. Motivations concerning state or city lockdowns, parental rules, and social responsibility were associated with greater social distancing, whereas motivations concerning no alternatives were associated with less social distancing. Specific motivations for social distancing were differentially associated with adolescents' anxiety symptoms, depressive symptoms, burdensomeness, and belongingness. Understanding adolescents' motivations to engage in social distancing may inform strategies to increase social distancing engagement, reduce pathogen transmission, and identify individual differences in mental and social health during the COVID-19 pandemic.
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ISSN:1054-139X
1879-1972
1879-1972
DOI:10.1016/j.jadohealth.2020.05.004