Adolescents' Perceived Socio-Emotional Impact of COVID-19 and Implications for Mental Health: Results From a U.S.-Based Mixed-Methods Study

COVID-19 has disrupted many aspects of adolescents' lives, yet little data are available that document their subjective experiences of the pandemic. In a mixed-methods study of U.S. adolescents, we examined (1) adolescents' perceptions of how their social and emotional lives had changed du...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of adolescent health Vol. 68; no. 1; pp. 43 - 52
Main Authors: Rogers, Adam A., Ha, Thao, Ockey, Sydney
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: United States Elsevier Inc 01.01.2021
Elsevier BV
Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine
Subjects:
Adolescent
Adolescent Behavior - psychology
Adolescents
African Americans
Anxiety
Anxiety - psychology
Changes
COVID-19
Emotions
Families & family life
Family - psychology
Family relations
Female
Friends - psychology
Friendship
Health problems
Health status
Hispanic Americans
Humans
Loneliness
Male
Mental depression
Mental disorders
Mental Health
Mental health care
Mental health services
Mixed methods research
Mood
Negative emotions
Original
Pandemics
Perceived changes
Positive emotions
Relationships
Subjective experiences
Subjectivity
Surveys and Questionnaires
Symptoms
Teenagers
United States
United States
United States > US
COVID-19
Relationships
Mood
Adolescent
Mental health
ISSN:1054-139X, 1879-1972, 1879-1972
Online Access:Get full text
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Summary:COVID-19 has disrupted many aspects of adolescents' lives, yet little data are available that document their subjective experiences of the pandemic. In a mixed-methods study of U.S. adolescents, we examined (1) adolescents' perceptions of how their social and emotional lives had changed during COVID-19; and (2) associations between these perceived changes and indices of their mental health, above and beyond their prepandemic mental health status. Four hundred seven U.S. adolescents (Mage = 15.24, standard deviation = 1.69; 50% female; 52%, 20% African American, 17% Hispanic/Latinx) completed surveys before (October 2019) and during (April 2020) the COVID-19 pandemic. They provided qualitative and quantitative responses on their experiences with COVID-19 and reports of their mental health. Adolescents perceived various changes in their relationships with family and friends (e.g., less perceived friend support) during COVID-19. They also perceived increases in negative affect and decreases in positive affect. These perceived social and emotional changes were associated with elevated depressive symptoms, anxiety symptoms, and loneliness in April 2020, controlling for mental health problems before the pandemic. Our findings sensitize clinicians and scholars to the vulnerabilities (changes in friendship dynamics), as well as resiliencies (supportive family contexts), presented to U.S. adolescents during the early months of COVID-19.
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ISSN:1054-139X
1879-1972
1879-1972
DOI:10.1016/j.jadohealth.2020.09.039