The roles of stress, coping, and parental support in adolescent psychological well-being in the context of COVID-19: A daily-diary study

COVID-19 Anti-Chinese Discrimination, Current Pandemic Stress, And Adolescents' Mental Health

The current study investigated adolescents' experiences of COVID-19 anti-Chinese discrimination (i.e., vicariously witnessed, directly experienced), the consequences for mental health, and the moderating role of general pandemic stress. During Summer 2020, 106 adolescents (43% Latino/a/x, 19% Asian American, 13% Black/African American, 26% biracial/multiracial/other; 58% female) participated in a 14-day daily diary study. Path analyses revealed that more experiences of vicarious COVID-19 anti-Chinese discrimination were associated with greater anxious mood, depressed mood, and mental health stress, while direct COVID-19 anti-Chinese discrimination was unrelated to mental health outcomes. The interaction between vicarious COVID-19 anti-Chinese discrimination and general COVID-19 stress was significant for depressed mood; simple slope analyses showed that for adolescents reporting high levels of COVID-19 stress, more frequent experiences of vicarious COVID-19 anti-Chinese discrimination were associated with greater severity in depressed mood, but this link was nonsignificant for those reporting low levels of general pandemic stress. Findings from the current study underscore the pernicious effects of vicarious COVID-19 anti-Chinese discrimination on the mental health of minoritized youth beyond solely Asian Americans. Additionally, the results evince the need for future pandemic-response efforts to craft public health messaging that avoids the racialization of disease and subsequent stigmatization of ethnic-minority communities.

Daily COVID-19 Stressor Effects on Children's Mental Health Depend on Pre-pandemic Peer Victimization and Resting Respiratory Sinus Arrhythmia

Children's risk of poorer mental health due to the COVID-19 pandemic may depend on risk and protective factors heading into the pandemic. This study examined same-day associations between COVID-19 stressors and children's mental health using a daily diary design across 14 days, and considered the moderating roles of pre-pandemic peer victimization experiences and resting respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA; an indicator of cardiac regulatory capacity). Forty-nine Canadian children aged 8-13 years (Mage = 10.69, 29 girls) participated in the final wave of a longitudinal study just prior to the pandemic and a daily diary extension during the pandemic (N = 686 pandemic measurement occasions). Multilevel modeling indicated that children had poorer mental health on days when they experienced a COVID-19 stressor (e.g., virtual academic difficulties, social isolation). A three-way interaction indicated that this association was stronger for those with higher pre-pandemic peer victimization experiences and lower pre-pandemic resting RSA; however, highly victimized children with higher resting RSA did not experience poorer mental health on days with COVID-19 stressors. Findings offer preliminary insights into the preceding risk and protective factors for children's mental health amidst major subsequent stress.

Well-being approaches targeted to improve child and youth health post-COVID-19 pandemic: a scoping review

BACKGROUND

Our previous work synthesized published studies on well-being interventions during COVID-19. As we move into a post-COVID-19 pandemic period there is a need to comprehensively review published strategies, approaches, and interventions to improve child and youth well-being beyond deleterious impacts experienced during COVID-19.

METHODS

Seven databases were searched from inception to January 2023. Studies were included if they: (1) presented original data on an approach (i.e., approach applied) or (2) provided recommendations to inform development of a future approach (i.e., approach suggested), (3) targeted to mitigate negative impacts of COVID-19 on child and youth (≤18 year) well-being, and (4) published on or after December 2019.

RESULTS

39 studies (n = 4/39, 10.3% randomized controlled trials) from 2021 to 2023 were included. Twenty-two studies applied an approach (n = 22/39, 56.4%) whereas seventeen studies (n = 17/39, 43.6%) suggested an approach; youth aged 13-18 year (n = 27/39, 69.2%) were most frequently studied. Approach applied records most frequently adopted an experimental design (n = 11/22, 50.0%), whereas approach suggested records most frequently adopted a cross-sectional design (n = 13/22, 59.1%). The most frequently reported outcomes related to good health and optimum nutrition (n = 28/39, 71.8%), followed by connectedness (n = 22/39, 56.4%), learning, competence, education, skills, and employability (n = 18/39, 46.1%), and agency and resilience (n = 16/39, 41.0%).

CONCLUSIONS

The rapid onset and unpredictability of COVID-19 precluded meaningful engagement of children and youth in strategy development despite widespread recognition that early engagement can enhance usefulness and acceptability of interventions. Published or recommended strategies were most frequently targeted to improve connectedness, belonging, and socialization among children and youth.

The subjective well-being in Peruvian adolescence: Identifying domains and evaluations in a non-WEIRD context

The present qualitative study examined how a group of Peruvian adolescents (N = 32) from different cultural contexts conceive their well-being. The goal was to identify the domains that structure their conception of well-being and how they evaluate it based on their elaboration. For this objective, 32 in-depth interviews were carried out with adolescents from different cultural contexts in Perú. Elements such as region, academic performance, and gender were considered to identify specificities during the analysis. Interviews were analyzed using a thematic analysis strategy. As a result, six domains of adolescent well-being emerged where well-being is associated with socioeconomic factors, family and peer relationships, future aspirations, social skills and self-esteem, academic performance, and health care. Participants' evaluations of well-being were mainly grounded in the socioeconomic, family, and educational domains. Findings highlight the need to further develop psychology research on adolescence in non-WEIRD societies.

From the COVID-19 lockdown to the new normal: Two-year changes in daily stress and positive event processes

The emergence of the novel COVID-19 disease and the social distancing measures implemented to curb its spread affected most aspects of daily life. Past work suggests that during times of more severe stress, people respond to daily stressors with relatively higher negative affect. However, little is known about how people responded to daily stressors and positive events at different moments in time during the COVID-19 pandemic. Thus, we examined longitudinal changes in daily event-related affect (covariation of daily stressors or positive events with same-day affect) from Spring 2020 (wave 1) to 2022 (wave 2). The sample consisted of 324 adults aged 18-80 (mean = 52 years; 89% women) from the US and Canada who completed weeklong daily diaries at both waves. The results revealed improvements in affective well-being, stressor-related affect (i.e., smaller fluctuations in affect on stressor days vs. nonstressor days), and positive event-related affect (i.e., lower negative affect on days with vs. without positive events). Furthermore, as people gradually resumed their social activities from 2020 to 2022, people reported being exposed to an increased frequency of both stressors and positive events. This study highlights the potential influence of socio-historical phenomena, such as an ongoing pandemic, on the events that people encounter and how they emotionally respond to them.

Resilience to Stress and Adversity: A Narrative Review of the Role of Positive Affect

The modern conception of mental health encompasses not only mental illness but also mental wellbeing, including positive emotional states and other forms of positive experience. Accordingly, research on resilience - that is, recovery or adaptation following adversity - has recently expanded to consider the roles of positive affect in the resilience process. To review this research, we performed a keyword search of all peer-reviewed journals within the American Psychological Association's PsycInfo database, retrieving all studies of positive affect in the context of resilience. These studies measured positive affect either as the outcome of the resilience process or as a resilience resource in its own right. With positive affect as the outcome, the literature suggests that various resilience resources can promote positive affect following a stressor, especially positive personality traits (eg, hope, optimism, self-compassion) and supportive interpersonal connections. With positive affect as a resilience resource, the literature suggests that higher levels of positive affect may protect individuals from the impact of stress on a number of outcomes, such as depression and trauma symptoms. In all, the reviewed research showcases a wide range of stressors, resources, and outcomes, and there are numerous openings for future discoveries in this promising area of inquiry.

Threat, safety, safeness and social safeness 30 years on: Fundamental dimensions and distinctions for mental health and well-being

In 1993, the British Journal of Clinical Psychology published my paper titled 'Defence and safety: Their function in social behaviour and psychopathology'. The paper highlights that to understand people's sensitivity to threat, we also need to understand their ability to identify what is safe. This paper offers an update on these concepts, highlighting distinctions that were implicit but not clearly defined at the time. Hence, the paper seeks to clarify distinctions between: (i) threat detection and response, (ii) safety and safety seeking, (iii) safeness and (iv) their social and non-social functions and forms. Threat detection and response are to prevent or minimize harm (e.g., run from a predator or fire). Safety checking relates to monitoring for the absence and avoidance of threat, while safety seeking links to the destination of the defensive behaviour (e.g., running home). Safety seeking also relates to maintaining vigilance to the appearance of potential harms and doing things believed to avoid harm. Threat-defending and safety checking and seeking are regulated primarily through evolved threat processing systems that monitor the nature, presence, controllability and/or absence of threat (e.g., amygdala and sympathetic nervous system). Safeness uses different monitoring systems via different psychophysiological systems (e.g., prefrontal cortex, parasympathetic system) for the presence of internal and external resources that support threat-coping, risk-taking, resource exploration. Creating brain states that recruit safeness processing can impact how standard evidence-based therapies (e.g., exposure, distress tolerance and reappraisal) are experienced and produce long-term change.

Effects of three prophylactic interventions on French middle-schoolers' mental health: protocol for a randomized controlled trial

Adolescence is a strategic developmental stage in terms of preventing later difficulties and ensuring good mental health. Prophylactic interventions, which are conducted before the onset, prolongation, or worsening of difficulties, and aim to prevent or reduce symptoms or to promote wellbeing, therefore appear particularly appropriate for adolescents. However, existing prophylactic interventions conducted with adolescents have several weaknesses, including sparse theoretical frameworks, ambivalent evidence of their efficacy, and implementation and dissemination difficulties. In addition, no data are currently available on the effectiveness of such interventions in France. To fill this gap, a four-arm randomized controlled trial will be performed to assess the effectiveness of three prophylactic interventions targeting reactive, proactive and interpersonal adaptation in fourth-grade middle-school students, together with participants' experience and perception of the interventions. Based on existing knowledge about adolescents, their learning mechanisms, and field constraints, these three interventions have been designed to promote their learning and receptiveness to interventions. Compared with baseline (i.e., before the intervention), we expect to observe a significant decrease in the level of distress (anxiety and depressive symptoms, functional impairment, and psychosocial difficulties) and a significant increase in the level of wellbeing after the intervention, across the three intervention groups, but not in the control group. In addition, we expect to observe post-intervention improvements in the processes targeted by the reactive adaptation intervention (operationalized as coping strategy use and flexibility), those targeted by the proactive adaptation intervention (operationalized as the tendency to engage in committed actions and general self-efficacy), and those targeted by the interpersonal adaptation intervention (operationalized as assertiveness in interactions), but only in the corresponding groups, with no change in any of these processes in the control group. The results of this research will not only enrich our knowledge of the processes involved in adolescents' distress and wellbeing, but also provide clues as to the best targets for intervention. Moreover, the material for these interventions will be freely available in French on request to the corresponding author, providing access to innovative and fully assessed interventions aimed at promoting adolescents' mental health in France.This clinical trial is currently being registered under no. 2023-A01973-42 on https://ansm.sante.fr/ . This is the first version of the protocol.

Identifying the top predictors of student well-being across cultures using machine learning and conventional statistics

Alongside academic learning, there is increasing recognition that educational systems must also cater to students' well-being. This study examines the key factors that predict adolescent students' subjective well-being, indexed by life satisfaction, positive affect, and negative affect. Data from 522,836 secondary school students from 71 countries/regions across eight different cultural contexts were analyzed. Underpinned by Bronfenbrenner's bioecological theory, both machine learning (i.e., light gradient-boosting machine) and conventional statistics (i.e., hierarchical linear modeling) were used to examine the roles of person, process, and context factors. Among the multiple predictors examined, school belonging and sense of meaning emerged as the common predictors of the various well-being dimensions. Different well-being dimensions also had distinct predictors. Life satisfaction was best predicted by a sense of meaning, school belonging, parental support, fear of failure, and GDP per capita. Positive affect was most strongly predicted by resilience, sense of meaning, school belonging, parental support, and GDP per capita. Negative affect was most strongly predicted by fear of failure, gender, being bullied, school belonging, and sense of meaning. There was a remarkable level of cross-cultural similarity in terms of the top predictors of well-being across the globe. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

A prospective study of financial worry, mental health changes and the moderating effect of social support among Canadian adolescents during the COVID-19 pandemic

INTRODUCTION

The COVID-19 pandemic intensified the impact of risk factors for adolescent mental health, including financial worry. Social support has shown to protect from negative mental health during times of stress. We examined the effect of financial worry on changes in anxiety and depression symptoms among Canadian adolescents prior to and during the pandemic, and assessed whether social support from family and friends moderated any changes.

METHODS

We analyzed 2-year linked data from the 2018/19 (pre-pandemic) and 2020/21 (during-pandemic) waves of the COMPASS study, with reports from 12 995 Canadian secondary school students. A series of multilevel linear regressions were conducted to examine the main hypotheses under study.

RESULTS

Students scored an average (SD) of 7.2 (5.8) on the anxiety (GAD-7) and 10.0 (6.5) on the depression (CESD-10) scales; 16.1% reported they experienced financial worry during the pandemic. Financial worry was a strong and significant predictor of increased anxiety scores (+1.7 score between those reporting "true/mostly true" versus "false/mostly false") during the pandemic, but not for depression scores. Low family and friend support were associated with anxiety, and low family support was associated with depression. No significant interactions were detected between social support and financial worry.

CONCLUSIONS

Pandemic-related financial worry was significantly associated with anxiety in our large sample of Canadian adolescents. Clinical and public health initiatives should be aware of adolescents' financial worry and its associations with anxiety during times of crisis.

Relationship between coping styles (problem-oriented, emotion-oriented, and avoidance-oriented) with psychological well-being in people with coronavirus-2019 experience in Kermanshah city

BACKGROUND

Considering the epidemic status of the COVID-19 virus, the discussion of the psychological effects of this disease on the mental health of people at different levels of society is of great importance. Therefore, this study was conducted to investigate the relationship between coping (problem-oriented, emotion-oriented, and avoidance-oriented) with psychological well-being in people with coronavirus disease.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

In this correlational study, the statistical population consisted of all individuals with experience of coronavirus in 2021 in Kermanshah city. In total, 220 people were selected as the sample using an available sampling method. The instruments used in this study were Reef Psycho-Welfare Questionnaire (PWBQ) and Andler and Parker Coping Styles (CISS-SF). Data were analyzed using Pearson's correlation coefficient and simultaneous regression.

RESULTS

Multiple correlations of coping variables (problem-oriented, emotion-oriented, and avoidance-oriented) with psychological well-being (R = 0.671; P = 0.01) are significant. Problem-oriented coping style (beta = 0.329; P = 0.05), emotional coping style (beta = 0.329; P = 0.05); avoidant coping style (beta = 0.144; P = 0.05) had a significant relationship with psychological well-being.

CONCLUSION

According to the obtained results, the importance of paying attention to coping styles in psychological well-being is felt more than before. Psychological well-being seems to be influenced by other factors and their interactive effects as well.

Family resilience during the COVID-19 onset: A daily-diary inquiry into parental employment status, parent-adolescent relationships, and well-being

COVID-19 changed the landscape of employment and financial security in the USA, contributing to multi-systemic disruptions in family life. Using dyadic, daily-diary parent-adolescent data from a nationwide American sample (18,415 daily assessments; 29 days: 4/8/2020-4/21/2020 and 5/18/2020-6/1/2020; N = 635 parent-adolescent dyads), this intensive longitudinal study investigated how COVID-19-related job loss and working-from-home (WFH) arrangements influenced parents' and children's daily affect indirectly through family functioning (i.e., parent-adolescent conflict, inter-adult conflict, and parental warmth) and whether these links varied by family socioeconomic status (SES). Parental employment status was linked to these family relational dynamics, which were then connected to parents' and adolescents' daily affect. Although SES did not moderate these links, low-income families were more likely to experience job loss, parent-adolescent conflict, and inter-adult conflict and less likely to WFH than higher-income families. As inter-relations within the family are a malleable point for intervention, clinicians working with families recovering from the fiscal impact of the COVID-19 pandemic are encouraged to use approaches that strengthen family relationships, especially between adolescents and their parents. Unemployment subsidies are discussed as a means to support families struggling with job loss, and organizations are urged to consider the benefits of WFH on employee health and work-life balance.

The roles of stress mindset and personality in the impact of life stress on emotional well-being in the context of Covid-19 confinement: A diary study

Previous studies indicate that COVID-19 confinement has led to an increase in psychological distress and a decrease in overall well-being. This longitudinal study aims to investigate how stress mindset and personality traits moderate the impact of life stress on the development of emotional well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic confinement. Our study collected daily life stress and emotions data from 134 participants over 14 consecutive days using the diary method. We used hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) to analyze the data, examining within-person and between-person effects. Life stress predicted moderate increases in positive emotions and strong increases in negative emotions over time. A stress-is-enhancing stress mindset was associated with greater positive emotions at baseline and mitigated the link between life stress and negative emotions. Among the Big Five personality traits, extraversion, openness, agreeableness, and conscientiousness were associated with higher baseline levels of positive emotions. Agreeableness and conscientiousness mitigated the link between life stress and negative emotions. Neuroticism was associated with higher baseline levels of negative emotions and moderately mitigated the link between life stress and positive emotions. The interaction between neuroticism and stress-is-enhancing mindset predicted greater negative emotions and mitigated the link between life stress and positive emotions. In contrast, the interaction between stress-is-enhancing mindset and the other four personality traits mitigated the positive link between life stress and negative emotions. Overall, these findings suggest that life stress from confinement leads to a decrease in daily emotional well-being as the confinement prolongs. Personality traits-agreeableness, conscientiousness, and a stress-is-enhancing stress mindset-act as protective roles in mitigating life stress' effect on reduced emotional well-being over time. The findings advance our knowledge in understanding the roles of personality traits and stress-is-enhancing mindset in explaining the heterogeneity in the impact of life stress on emotional well-being.

Adolescent coping and social media use moderated anxiety change during the COVID-19 pandemic

INTRODUCTION

Adolescence is a sensitive period during which stressors and social disruptions uniquely contribute to anxiety symptoms. Adolescent's coping strategies (i.e., avoidance and approach) during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic may be differentially related to anxiety symptom changes. Further, social media use (SMU) is ubiquitous and may serve as an avenue to deploy avoidant and/or approach coping.

METHOD

Participants included 265 adolescents (ages 12-20 years; 55.8% female, 43.8% male) and one parent per adolescent. At two time points separated by ~6 months, adolescents reported on SMU and coping strategies, and parents and adolescents reported demographic information and adolescents' anxiety symptoms. Data were collected online in the United States, from summer 2020 through spring 2021.

RESULTS

Increases in avoidant coping predicted increasing anxiety, particularly when approach coping decreased. Decreases in both avoidant coping and SMU coincided with decreasing anxiety. Older adolescents showed decreasing anxiety when avoidant coping declined and SMU increased.

CONCLUSION

Coping strategies and SMU predicted patterns of adolescent anxiety symptom change across 6 months during the COVID-19 pandemic. Results highlight that coping and SMU should be contextualized within the time course of stressors.

Resilience in the Time of COVID-19: Familial Processes, Coping, and Mental Health in Latinx Adolescents

OBJECTIVE

This study investigated COVID-19 stressors and silver linings, familism values, familial resilience, and coping, and their relation to internalizing symptoms among Latinx youth.

METHOD

A community sample of 135 Latinx adolescents completed online surveys 6-months apart (M age = 16, 59.3% female; majority U.S-born).

RESULTS

COVID-19 stress was associated with more depressive (β = .18, p = .027) and anxiety (β = .21, p = .010) symptoms. However, COVID-19 stress was related to higher levels of depressive and anxiety symptoms only for youth who engaged in low (β = .38, p < .001; β = .38, p = .001) and medium (β = .19, p = .004; β = .22, p = .011) levels of problem-focused engagement coping. Higher levels of family resilience were associated with lower cross-sectional depressive symptoms (β = -.28, p = .004). For longitudinal models, a significant relation between COVID-19 stress and problem-focused engagement predicted Time 2 depressive symptoms (β = -.20, p < .041).

CONCLUSION

Latinx youth who experienced high levels of COVID-19 stress who enacted problem-focused coping fared better across the pandemic. Familial resilience did not carry the same longitudinal benefit but did bolster mental health concurrently. Clinicians should endeavor to buttress familial resilience processes in addition to problem-engaged coping for Latinx youth in treatment.

Adolescent psychological adjustment and social supports during pandemic-onset remote learning: A national multi-wave daily-diary study

In spring 2020, U.S. schools universally transitioned to online learning due to the COVID-19 pandemic's onset, thus creating a natural experiment for examining adolescents' risk and resilience during an ongoing school crisis response. This longitudinal study used a daily-diary approach to investigate the role of social support in the link between remote learning and psychological well-being across 64 days among a national sample of adolescents (n = 744; 42% Black, 36% White, 22% Other ethnicity/race; 41% boys; 72% eligible for free/reduced-priced lunch; Mage=14.60, SDage=1.71, age-range = 12-17 years). On days when youth attended remote learning, they reported lower daily positive affect, more daily stress, and higher parent social support. There were no significant differences in the effect of remote learning on affect or stress by race or economic status. On days when youth experienced more parent support, they reported lower daily stress and negative affect and higher daily positive affect. On days when youth experienced more peer support, they reported higher daily positive affect. Overall, the study highlights the impact of pandemic-onset remote learning on adolescents' psychological well-being and emphasizes the need for future research on school crisis contingency planning to address these challenges.

Empirical support for a model of risk and resilience in children and families during COVID-19: A systematic review & narrative synthesis

BACKGROUND.

The COVID-19 Family Disruption Model (FDM) describes the cascading effects of pandemic-related social disruptions on child and family psychosocial functioning. The current systematic review assesses the empirical support for the model.

METHODS.

Study eligibility: 1) children between 2-18 years (and/or their caregivers); 2) a quantitative longitudinal design; 3) published findings during the first 2.5 years of COVID-19; 4) an assessment of caregiver and/or family functioning; 5) an assessment of child internalizing, externalizing, or positive adjustment; and 6) an examination of a COVID-19 FDM pathway. Following a search of PsycINFO and MEDLINE in August 2022, screening, full-text assessments, and data extraction were completed by two reviewers. Study quality was examined using an adapted NIH risk-of- bias tool.

RESULTS.

Findings from 47 studies were summarized using descriptive statistics, tables, and a narrative synthesis. There is emerging support for bidirectional pathways linking caregiver-child functioning and family-child functioning, particularly for child internalizing problems. Quality assessments indicated issues with attrition and power justification.

DISCUSSION.

We provide a critical summary of the empirical support for the model, highlighting themes related to family systems theory and risk/resilience. We outline future directions for research on child and family well-being during COVID-19. Systematic review registration. PROSPERO [CRD42022327191].

Spouses' coping with stress during the COVID-19 pandemic: is there a difference between male and female attitudes?

This descriptive study was conducted to determine the stress-coping status of spouses and the difference between male and female attitudes during the pandemic period. We collected data with the Personal Information Form and the Scale for Coping with Family Stressors from 533 participants. The mean age of women and men was 36.04 ± 10.04 and 37.13 ± 11.56, respectively. A significant difference in verbalizing with others, work - family segmentation, cognitive restructuring, changing behaviors, emotional disclosure, exercise, and spending more time with family was found between women and men (p < .05). A significant difference was also observed in coping mechanisms with family stressors between women and men, and thus, gender affects their coping attitudes. During crises such as pandemics, the community should be aware of the availability of mental health professionals, and spouses should also use effective coping methods with family stress at regular intervals.

Daily experiences and adolescent affective wellbeing during the COVID-19 pandemic: The CHESS model

The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in adolescents' increased exposure to daily experiences of risk factors for depression and anxiety (e.g., loneliness). Intensive longitudinal studies examining daily experiences during the pandemic have revealed short-term and long-term consequences on youth mental health. Although evidence suggests small average increases in adolescent depression and anxiety, most of the story is in variability: increases are higher for youth and families with greater pre-existing mental health vulnerabilities and fewer socioeconomic resources, whereas increases are lower when social or financial support and positive coping and health behaviors are available and employed. Public health and economic policies should be mindful of youth mental health risks and actively promote known mental health supports, including family economic resources, access to mental healthcare, and social connection.

Families Facing Pandemic Modifications of Everyday Life: A Mixed Study on Mothers' and Children's Emotional Reactions and Regulation Strategies

The COVID-19 pandemic caused many enduring changes in the everyday life of families, with negative effects on parents' and children's wellbeing. However, there is a lack of studies in the literature exploring the emotional reactions and coping strategies of both mothers and children of different ages. Furthermore, most studies used only self-reports. This study aimed to identify the emotions and coping strategies of children, adolescents and their mothers and to verify the association between maternal and child wellbeing. A mixed-method design using interviews and questionnaires was applied to collect information on wellbeing (emotional reactions, behavioral/emotional problems) and coping strategies of both mothers (n = 65; M age = 42.17; SD = 4.40; M age = 41.63; SD = 4.48), and their children (n = 35, 8-10 year; n = 30, 11-13 year) during the second wave of the pandemic (December 2020). No differences between the groups emerged concerning the emotional reactions reported. In contrast, mothers and children of different ages reported different self-regulation and other-regulation strategies. Moreover, maternal strategies had different effects on children's wellbeing. The integration of qualitative and quantitative results was informative to understand how families adapted to the radical changes of everyday life related to the pandemic. The implications for developing interventions in such similar stressful situations to promote family wellbeing are discussed.

Adolescent Psychosocial Adjustment during COVID-19: An Intensive Longitudinal Study

OBJECTIVE

COVID-19 has presented threats to adolescents' psychosocial well-being, especially for those from economically disadvantaged backgrounds. This longitudinal study aimed to identify which social (i.e., family conflict, parental social support, peer social support), emotional (i.e., COVID-19 health-related stress), and physical (i.e., sleep quality, food security) factors influence adolescents' same- and next-day affect and misconduct and whether these factors functioned differently by adolescents' economic status.

METHOD

Daily-diary approaches were used to collect 12,033 assessments over 29 days from a nationwide sample of American adolescents (n =546; Mage = 15.0; 40% male; 43% Black, 37% White, 10% Latinx, 8% Asian American, and 3% Native American; 61% low-income) at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.

RESULTS

Peer support, parent support, and sleep quality operated as promotive factors, whereas parent-child conflict and COVID-19 health-related stress operated as risk factors. Although these links were consistent for adolescents irrespective of economic status, low-income adolescents experienced more conflict with parents, more COVID-19 health-related stress, less peer support, and lower sleep quality than higher-income adolescents. Food insecurity was connected to decreased same- and next-day negative affect for low-income adolescents only. Low-income adolescents also displayed greater negative affect in response to increased daily health-related stress relative to higher-income adolescents.

CONCLUSION

These results highlight the role of proximal processes in shaping adolescent adjustment and delineate key factors influencing youth psychosocial well-being in the context of COVID-19. By understanding adolescents' responses to stressors at the onset of the pandemic, practitioners and healthcare providers can make evidence-based decisions regarding clinical treatment and intervention planning for youth most at risk for developmental maladjustment.

Daily stress, and mental health of professional degree graduate students in Chinese traditional medicine universities: the mediating role of learning career adaptation

BACKGROUND

With the expansion of professional degree graduate students' enrollment in China education, the mental health of these professional degree graduate students in medical-related majors who are under pressure of study, scientific research, clinical practice, and employment should not be ignored. What is the mental health level of these graduate students under the effect of learning career adaptation (internal resources) in the face of daily stress (external factors)? The purpose of this study is to discuss the relationship between these variables, and the mediating role of learning career adaptation of professional degree graduate students in traditional Chinese medicine colleges, and universities, to provide a theoretical basis for improving the learning career adaptation of students, and improving the level of mental health.

METHODS

A cross-sectional survey was conducted among 1593 professional degree graduate students majoring in clinical medicine, traditional Chinese medicine, and nursing in five traditional Chinese medicine universities. Finally, 660 questionnaires were returned, with a recovery rate of 41.43%. The scores of daily stress, learning career adaptation, and mental health were measured by Daily Stressors Scale for graduate students, graduate-students learning career adaptation scale, and General Mental Health Questionnaire (GHQ-20). Descriptive statistics were used to analyze the status quo of daily stress, learning career adaptation, and mental health. Pearson correlation analysis were used to analyze the relationship between them. we undertake analyses using structural equation modeling to construct the latent variable path model of daily stress, learning career adaptation on mental health. The significance level of the mediating effect was tested by the non-parametric percentile bootstrap method.

RESULTS

The scores of mental health, daily stress, and learning career adaptation were 50.56 ± 10.80, 35.12 ± 19.55, and 67.13 ± 7.48 respectively. Daily stress was negatively correlated with the three dimensions of learning career adaptation: career confidence, focus on his career, and career control (P < 0.01). Daily stress was positively correlated with depression and anxiety (P < 0.01). Self-affirmation, depression, and anxiety were negatively correlated with career confidence, focus on his career, and career control (P < 0.05). Learning career adaptation plays a partial mediating role between daily stress, and mental health (p < 0.001), with an intermediate effect value of 0.127, representing 28.54% of the total effect.

CONCLUSIONS

Mental health, learning career adaption of medical-related professional degree graduate students in traditional Chinese medical universities were at a moderate degree, and an upper-middle level respectively, while daily stress is to a lesser extent. Learning career adaptation mediates the relationship between daily stress, and mental health partially. To some extent, it can buffer the impact of daily stress on mental health, especially anxiety. The educational administrator could take various measures to improve the mental health of professional degree graduate students. It can also enhance their learning career adaptation from the perspective of individuals, and organizations to improve their mental health.

Impact of COVID-19 on HIV Adolescent Programming in 16 Countries With USAID-Supported PEPFAR Programs

INTRODUCTION

The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted access to critical health services, resulting in diminished gains in HIV epidemic control. This review assesses the magnitude of the impact that the COVID-19 pandemic has had on HIV services for adolescents.

METHODS

PEPFAR Monitoring, Evaluation, and Reporting programmatic data were analyzed from across 16 USAID-supported adolescent care and treatment programs for fiscal year 2020 (FY20; October 2019-September 2020). Descriptive statistics were used to calculate absolute number and percent change between the pre-COVID-19 (Quarters 1-2; October 2019-March 2020) and COVID-19 periods (Quarters 3-4; April 2020-September 2020) for clinical cascade indicators. All analyses were conducted in Microsoft Excel.

RESULTS

The number of HIV tests conducted during COVID-19 decreased by 21.4% compared with pre-COVID-19, with a subsequent 28% decrease in adolescents identified living with HIV. The rate of proxy linkage to antiretroviral therapy increased between periods, from 86.9% to 90.4%. There was a 25.9% decrease in treatment initiations among adolescents during COVID-19. During FY20, viral load coverage rates for adolescents dropped from 81.6% in FY20Q1 to 76.5% in FY20Q4, whereas the rates of viral load suppression for adolescents increased from 76.1% in FY20Q1 to 80.5% in FY20Q4.

CONCLUSION

There was a substantial decrease in case-finding, treatment initiations, and viral load coverage rates for adolescents supported in USAID/PEPFAR programs during the COVID-19 pandemic. Additional health systems adaptations and strategies are required to ensure adolescents have continued access to HIV services during pandemic disruptions.

Daily association between parent-adolescent relationship and life satisfaction: The moderating role of emotion dysregulation

INTRODUCTION

In adolescence, life satisfaction is an early indicator of later psychological well-being. However, researchers know little about how daily family relationships shape adolescent life satisfaction. The current study examined the day-to-day associations between parent-adolescent relationships and life satisfaction, and whether adolescent emotion dysregulation moderated these associations.

METHODS

A total of 191 adolescents (Mage  = 12.93, SDage  = 0.75, 53% female) recruited from junior high schools in Taiwan participated in a 10-day daily diary protocol. We conducted multilevel analyses to examine within-family and between-family processes.

RESULTS

At the within-family level, adolescents reported higher life satisfaction on days when parent-adolescent closeness was higher, but lower life satisfaction on days when parent-adolescent conflict was higher. At the between-family level, higher parent-adolescent closeness was associated with greater life satisfaction on average, while parent-adolescent conflict was not related to adolescent life satisfaction. Cross-level interactions indicated that within-family changes in parent-adolescent closeness and conflict were only associated with life satisfaction for adolescents with higher levels of emotion dysregulation, indicating emotion dysregulation may intensify the role of daily parent-adolescent relationships in shaping adolescent life satisfaction.

CONCLUSIONS

This study expands current literature and provides novel evidence that changes in day-to-day parent-adolescent relationships have important implications for adolescent life satisfaction, especially for youth higher in emotion dysregulation. The findings underscore the importance of evaluating family and individual characteristics to better support adolescent well-being.

Understanding adolescent stress during the COVID-19 pandemic

Longitudinal studies across the globe documented significant increases in psychological stress and mental health problems among adolescents during the COVID-19 pandemic. Health concerns, school disruptions, and social disconnection were major sources of stress. High levels of perceived stress predicted worse mental health outcomes, with girls, older adolescents, and socio-economically marginalized youth experiencing more pronounced mental health deteriorations. However, social support from family and peers was a protective factor against increased stress and accompanying mental health problems. We urge policymakers and other key decision-makers to improve the availability and financing of mental health services and support programs for adolescents to address the wave of mental health challenges following the pandemic.

The compounded effect of the dual pandemic on ethnic-racial minority adolescents' mental health and psychosocial well-being

During the COVID-19 pandemic, U.S. youth faced various stressors that affected their schooling experiences, social relationships, family dynamics, and communities. These stressors negatively impacted youths' mental health. Compared to White youths, ethnic-racial minority youths were disproportionately affected by COVID-19-related health disparities and experienced elevated worry and stress. In particular, Black and Asian American youths faced the compounded effects of a dual pandemic due to their navigation of both COVID-19-related stressors and increased exposure to racial discrimination and racial injustice, which worsened their mental health outcomes. However, protective processes such as social support, ethnic-racial identity, and ethnic-racial socialization emerged as mechanisms that attenuated the effects of COVID-related stressors on ethnic-racial youths' mental health and promoted their positive adaptation and psychosocial well-being.

Brief Report: The Influence of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Physical, Social, and Mental Health of Black and Latinx Young People With HIV in the United States

BACKGROUND

Whereas national attention has been paid to the ongoing mental health crises among young people triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic, less is known about the social, physical and psychological impacts of COVID-19 on young people living with HIV, especially racial/ethnic minorities.

SETTING

Online survey of participants across the U.S.

METHOD

A national cross-sectional survey of non-Latinx Black and Latinx young adults (18-29) living with HIV. Between April and August 2021, participants answered survey questions about several domains (eg, stress, anxiety, relationships, work, quality of life) that were worsened, improved, or unchanged during the pandemic. We ran a logistic regression estimating the self-reported impact of the pandemic on these domains between 2 age groups (ages 18-24 versus 25-29).

RESULTS

The sample size was 231 (186 non-Latinx Black, 45 Latinx) and mainly male (84.4%) and gay identified (62.2%). Nearly 20% of participants were 18-24 years old and 80% were ages 25-29. Participants who were 18-24 years old reported 2-3 times the odds for having worse sleep quality and mood and greater stress, anxiety, and weight gain compared with those 25-29 years old.

CONCLUSION

Our data provide a nuanced picture of the negative impacts that COVID-19 had on non-Latinx Black and Latinx young adults living with HIV in the U.S. Given that these adults represent a priority population for HIV treatment outcomes, it is critical to better understand the ongoing toll that these dual pandemics have on their lives.

Differences in perceived threat and trauma in children during the COVID-19 pandemic

BACKGROUND

The past 2 years of the COVID-19 pandemic were stressful for most children and adolescents; some children may have experienced a high level of stress and trauma. To date, no study has examined self-reported stress and trauma levels due to COVID-19 in children. This study aimed to assess perceived threat, exposure and trauma symptoms in children aged 7-13 years. In addition, we explored whether parent-reported factors could predict a higher risk of COVID-19 vulnerability in their children.

METHOD

Cross-sectional data were collected from 752 children to assess COVID-19 threat, exposure and trauma symptoms using the self- and parent-reported Child and Adolescent Trauma Screening Self-Report (CATS) Trauma questionnaire. We used exploratory analyses (factor analysis of mixed data and hierarchical clustering) to identify subgroups (i.e., clusters) of children sharing similar characteristics in the dataset. Linear regression modeling was applied to determine the likelihood of higher threat and vulnerability in children with parent-reported COVID-19 threat, exposure, CATS trauma symptoms, behaviors on the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL), and posttraumatic growth (PTG).

RESULTS

We identified a high-risk group of children reporting clinically relevant trauma symptoms and COVID-19-related fears. Parents' reports of trauma could be used to identify children at high risk.

CONCLUSIONS

Approximately 25% of children reported moderate to clinically relevant levels of trauma symptom. It is especially important to offer adequate support to these children to ease the trauma and prevent their symptoms from developing into psychopathology.

Parent- and Child-Driven Daily Family Stress Processes between Daily Stress, Parental Warmth, and Adolescent Adjustment

Emerging evidence suggests that family members' stress and family interactions vary across days. This study examined the daily associations among parental and adolescent daily stress, parental warmth, and adolescent adjustment with a 30-day daily diary study among 99 ethnically diverse Canadian parent-adolescent dyads (54% White, 23% Asian, 9% multiracial, M_age= 14.5, 55% female). Multilevel structural equation modeling revealed a negative within-day link between parental daily stress and parental warmth, and positive within-day links between adolescent daily stress and their emotional problems and negative affect. Parental warmth was positively associated with the next day's adolescent positive affect and prosocial behaviors, and explained the cross-day link between parental daily stress and adolescent adaptive outcomes. The findings indicate parent-driven effects in daily family stress processes.

"What's going on?" Racism, COVID-19, and centering the voices of Black youth

This study examined the impact of COVID-19 stress and experiences of racism on COVID-19 adaptability and activism among Black youth. The protective role of perceived peer and adult social support were examined. Data were analyzed from 123 Black youth (M_age  = 15.44, 63% girls) from a school district in the Midwest. The findings revealed that more social support from adults increased Black youth adaptability (e.g., "ability to think through possible options to assist in the COVID-19 pandemic"). Perceived lower social support from adults predicted higher engagement in high-risk activism, and higher levels of peer social support were associated with higher levels of high-risk activism. Further, Black youth reporting higher levels of racism and adult social support were more likely to report higher levels of COVID-19 adaptability. Black youth reporting higher racism and peer social support engaged in high-risk activism. Black youth who reported high levels of racism and low perceived adult social support reported higher engagement in high-risk activism. Research and practice implications that support Black youth during the COVID-19 pandemic and the impact of racism and COVID-19 stress on well-being and activism are discussed.

Impact of COVID-19 on Families with Children: Examining Sociodemographic Differences

OBJECTIVE

The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated differences related to employment and family psychological health. However, empirical evidence examining COVID-19-linked differences concerning children and families remains scant. This study addresses this gap by examining sociodemographic differences associated with COVID-19 on family access to resources and family psychological health.

METHOD

A telephone survey of 600 caregivers living in Mississippi was conducted from August 2020 to April 2021. Caregivers answered questions about levels of worry regarding themselves or their child contracting COVID-19 and impact of the pandemic on household income, access to resources, and family psychological health.

RESULTS

Multivariate models demonstrated that Black caregivers (n = 273; 45.5%) had increased odds of agreeing that they worry about contracting COVID-19 (odds ratio [OR] = 2.57). Furthermore, as caregiver reported household annual income decreased, caregivers had increased odds of agreeing that they worry about contracting COVID-19 (OR = 1.16), lost job-related income (OR = 1.14), and had a hard time obtaining resources (OR = 1.16) because of the pandemic. No significant differences related to rural or urban residence were observed.

CONCLUSION

The findings highlight the need for pragmatic responses that are attuned to differences by providing more equitable access to resources for families. The findings suggest that strategies addressing family worry, obtaining job-related income support, and helping families obtain tangible resources may positively affect family psychological health. As population changes in vaccination rates and COVID variants emerge, reassessment of family and community impact seems indicated. Limitations and future research directions are discussed.

Capturing Hassles and Uplifts in Adolescents' Daily Lives: Links with Physical and Mental Well-Being

Despite the salient impacts of daily experiences, scarce research has measured various daily minor experiences and evaluated their influences on adolescent well-being in their daily life. This study assessed the exposure to multiple aspects of daily hassles and uplifts in adolescents' daily lives, and examined the links between the level, types, and diversity of these exposures and adolescents' daily physical and mental well-being. Ninety-nine adolescents (12-17 years old, M = 14.6, 51.5% White, 53.5% female) completed a 30-day daily diary study. Multilevel modeling revealed different associations between the level and types of daily hassles and uplifts and adolescent well-being on the same day. Experiencing diverse daily hassles was linked with more emotional problems, and experiencing diverse daily uplifts was related with lower negative affect. The findings underscore the importance of including level, types, and diversity of both daily hassles and uplifts in research to better characterize adolescents' daily experiences. The findings also highlight the concurrent and potential cumulative effects of daily minor social events and mundane experiences in adolescent development in their daily lives.

Collective Stressors Affect the Psychosocial Development of Young Adults

Young adulthood is a critical developmental life stage and a period of enhanced vulnerability to stress. In 2020, young adults in Northern California were faced with a series of unforeseen, collective stressors: the COVID-19 pandemic, extreme wildfires, social tension associated with the murder of George Floyd, and a contentious election that culminated in an attack on the nation’s capital. In a natural experiment, we compared the psychosocial development of 415 young adults across 8 monthly assessment waves during 2020 to a control cohort ( n = 465) who completed the same assessment protocol in 2019, prior to the onset of stressors. Results of latent growth curve models indicated that the 2020 cohort had less adaptive trajectories of affective well-being and lower levels and less adaptive trajectories of social functioning, suggesting detrimental effects of cumulative, collective stressors on the socio-emotional development of young adults.

Good can be stronger than bad: the daily relationship among maternal warmth, mother-teen conflict and adolescents' self-esteem

Self-esteem is associated with adaptive adolescent outcomes but tends to decline in adolescence. Parent-teen warmth has been linked to concurrent increases in adolescents' self-esteem while adolescents' conflict with parents is detrimental to their self-esteem in cross-sectional or longitudinal studies. However, it is unknown how adolescents experience of maternal warmth and conflict with mothers are correlated with their daily self-esteem, and whether these associations vary in adolescents' gender, age and family subjective socioeconomic status (SES) from the perspective of Process-Person-Context-Time (PPCT) theory. To address this gap, 293 adolescents (M age = 13.88 years, SD = .62) were recruited from a school, reporting their daily experience of maternal warmth, conflict with mothers and self-esteem by answering checklists for up to 7 days. Multilevel analysis showed that adolescents reported significantly higher self-esteem on days they experienced more warmth or less conflict with mothers than usual. Moreover, maternal warmth was linked to next-day self-esteem positively, yet mother-teen conflict not shown this spill-over effect. Gender, age and subjective SES did not moderate all the daily associations among mother-teen warmth, conflict and self-esteem. Findings suggest that mother-teen interactions play both protective and detrimental role in adolescents' daily self-image and that "good" interaction goes a longer way than "bad" one.

Mental health and psychological resilience during the COVID-19 pandemic: A cross-cultural comparison of Japan, Malaysia, China, and the U.S

BACKGROUND

The current study examined how psychological resilience acted as a buffer against mental health deterioration during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. We conducted an online survey in four countries (Japan, Malaysia, China, and the U.S.) to examine how psychological resilience functions toward the maintenance of mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic.

METHODS

We collected data from 1583 citizens from four countries via an online survey between October 14 and November 2, 2020. We gathered demographic data and measured mental distress (depression, anxiety, and stress) and fear of COVID-19. Data on sense of control, ego-resilience, grit, self-compassion, and resilience indicators were also collected.

RESULTS

Sense of control was negatively associated with mental distress in all four countries. Self-compassion was negatively associated with mental distress in the samples from Japan, China, and the U.S. We also found an interaction effect for sense of control: the lower the sense of control, the stronger the deterioration of mental distress when the fear of COVID-19 was high.

LIMITATIONS

This study's cross-sectional design precludes causal inferences. Further, lack of data from people who were actually infected with the virus limits comparisons of people who were and were not infected. Finally, as this study only compared data from four countries, comparisons with more countries are needed.

CONCLUSIONS

A sense of control and self-compassion may help buffer against mental health deterioration during the COVID-19 pandemic. Sense of control was consistently associated with mental health across cultures.

Daily Association between COVID-19 cases and parents' emotions: the role of marital relationship quality

The continuing impact of daily stress during the COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted the lives of families worldwide, and increased the risk of psychological problems for parents and their children. The current study investigated the daily effect of COVID-19 cases on parents' positive and negative emotions among 163 Taiwanese families using daily diary methodology across 10 weekdays. Results of multilevel modeling indicated that parents reported fewer positive emotions on days when COVID-19 cases were higher than average. Further moderating analyses showed the adverse effect of COVID-19 cases was only evident when the same-day marital relationship quality was lower than usual. The findings highlight the psychological stress of COVID-19 cases on parents' daily emotions and identify the protective role of marital relationship quality. Policies and clinical interventions should consider the implications of daily COVID-19 stressors for parents' emotional well-being, and target the protective role of marital relationship quality in daily life.

Factors Associated With Depression and Anxiety in Korean Adolescents During the COVID-19 Pandemic

OBJECTIVE

This study was performed to identify factors associated with depression and anxiety among Korean adolescents during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic.

METHODS

We conducted a cross-sectional study of 1,898 Korean adolescents (55.2% male, 44.8% female) ranging in age from 12 to 17 years (mean±standard deviaion age, 15.4±2.6 years). Depression and anxiety were defined as a Patient Health Questionnaire-9 score ≥10 and Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 score ≥10, respectively. Other questionnaires included sociodemographic data, psychosocial stresses, and experiences in association with COVID-19. Psychiatric scales included Gratitude Questionnaire-6, Perceived Stress Scale-10, and UCLA Loneliness Scale-3.

RESULTS

The prevalence rates of depressive and anxiety symptoms among participants were 13.8% and 21.0%, respectively. Multivariable logistic regression analysis revealed that female sex, fear of COVID-19 infection, low gratitude were risk factors for depression. Fear of COVID-19 infection, increased TV watching time, and academic-related stress were risk factors for anxiety.

CONCLUSION

Depression and anxiety were prevalent during the pandemic in Korean adolescents, and were associated with fear of COVID-19 infection. Providing appropriate information on COVID-19, helping adolescents manage academic-related stress and maintain daily life patterns, and implementing interventions to foster gratitude are important for preventing depression and anxiety in Korean adolescents.

Parental Home Monitoring and Support and Students' Online Learning and Socioemotional Well-Being During COVID-19 School Suspension in Hong Kong

Contextualized in the prolonged period of COVID-19-related school suspension in Hong Kong, the present study unravels relationships among socioeconomic status (SES), parental involvement, and learning outcomes for a matched sample of 186 primary and 932 secondary school students and their parents who participated in the eCitizen Education 360 survey. Three-step latent profile analysis (LPA) revealed different types of parental involvement at home and in school. For the primary school sample, students' SES did not predict membership in the parental involvement typology, but students whose parents provided more home monitoring and support had the highest level of online self-efficacy. As for the secondary student sample, students whose parents provided more home monitoring and support tended to have access to more home learning resources. Students whose parents provided home monitoring and support had the highest levels of online self-efficacy, acquisition of digital skills, and cognitive-emotional regulation, and were the least worried about school resumption. The study underscores complex patterns of parental involvement and identifies effective parental involvement practices that contribute to students' home online learning during the school suspension.

COVID-19 Stressors and Latinx Adolescents' Mental Health Symptomology and School Performance: A Prospective Study

This study addressed the need for research examining impacts of the Coronavirus-19 (COVID) pandemic on Latinx adolescents’ adjustment. Survey data for a probability sample of 547 Latinx adolescents (M_age = 13.71, SD = 0.86; 55.2% female) were collected from 2018 to 2021, including two times both prior to, and during, COVID. Independent variables assessed COVID-related household hospitalization, job/income loss, and adolescents’ increased childcare responsibility. Structural Equation Model results indicated that COVID-related increases in adolescent childcare responsibility were associated with increased internalizing and externalizing symptoms and declines in school performance. COVID hospitalization and job/income loss were associated indirectly, through childcare responsibilities, to worse adolescent outcomes. Family adversities may harm adolescents’ adjustment by burdening adolescents with responsibilities such caring for children.

Social Distancing and Adolescent Psychological Well-Being: The Role of Practical Knowledge and Exercise

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES

This intensive longitudinal study investigated 1) the extent to which engaging in social distancing predicted adolescents' same- and next-day stress and positive affect and 2) whether COVID-19-related knowledge and exercise moderated these links during statewide stay-at-home orders that mandated schools and nonessential businesses to close during the coronavirus pandemic.

METHODS

Over the course of 28 days at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, a nationwide sample of 349 adolescents (Mean age = 15.0; 40% male; 44% Black, 39% White, 9% Latinx, 6% Asian American, 2% Native American) completed daily surveys about their social distancing behaviors, knowledge about the coronavirus, and exercise habits. Analysis was conducted on a total of 9372 assessments using longitudinal multilevel modeling approaches.

RESULTS

Daily engagement in social distancing predicted increases in adolescents' stress and decreases in their positive affect. Practical knowledge about COVID-19 and daily exercise moderated these links. Specifically, practical knowledge and exercise weakened the positive link between social distancing and stress as well as the negative link between social distancing and positive affect.

CONCLUSIONS

Adolescents' practical knowledge and exercise have the potential to buffer against the adverse effects of social distancing on stress and positive affect. However, it is critical for health care providers to recognize that youth are experiencing significant stress due to the disruption of developmentally normal patterns of social interaction. Pediatricians should focus on explaining the rationale behind social distancing while encouraging exercise as an adaptive coping mechanism that has benefits for psychological well-being.

Familiäre Unterstützung als Schutzfaktor für Jugendliche während der COVID-19-Pandemie

Zusammenfassung. Theoretischer Hintergrund: Die Familie stellt in Krisen einen zentralen Schutzfaktor für Jugendliche dar. Fragestellung: Diese Studie untersuchte die Zusammenhänge zwischen familiärer Unterstützung, der Sorge um die Gesundheit anderer und der psychischen Belastung von Jugendlichen. Methode: Daten einer Online-Studie zum Ende des 1. Lockdowns 2020 in Österreich und der Schweiz wurden mittels eines Strukturgleichungsmodells analysiert. Ergebnisse: Familiäre Unterstützung hing positiv mit der Sorge um die Gesundheit anderer und negativ mit psychischer Belastung zusammen. Die Schweizer Jugendlichen berichteten höhere Sorge um die Gesundheit anderer sowie eine geringere psychische Belastung. Diskussion und Schlussfolgerung: Die familiäre Unterstützung spielt eine wichtige Rolle im Befinden und Erleben von Jugendlichen während der Pandemie.

Exploring the Effect of a Nature-based Virtual Reality Environment on Stress in Adolescents

Adolescent mental health is a growing public health issue, with 30% of teens reporting increased stress and 20% of adolescents suffering from depression. Given the scarcity and lack of scalability of mental health services available, the use of self-administered, evidence-based technologies to support adolescent mental health is both timely and imperative. We conducted a mixed-methods pilot study with 31 adolescents ages 14-19 (m = 17.97) to explore the self-administration of a nature-based virtual reality tool. Participant use of the VR environment ranged from 1 to 10 sessions (m = 6.6) at home over a 2-week period while reporting their daily stress and mood levels. All participants completed all of the study protocols, indicating our protocol was feasible and the VR environment engaging. Post-study interviews indicated that most participants found the VR tool to be relaxing and helpful with stress. The themes of Calm Down, Relaxation, and Escape emerged to articulate the participants' experiences using the VR environment. Additionally, participants provided rich data regarding their preferences and activity in the VR environment as well as its effect on their emotional states. Although the sample size was insufficient to determine the impact on depression, we found a significant reduction in momentary stress as a result of using the VR tool. These preliminary data inform our own virtual reality environment design, but also provide evidence of the potential for self-administered virtual reality as a promising tool to support adolescent mental health.

Kidcope and the COVID-19 Pandemic: Understanding High School Students' Coping and Emotional Well-Being

The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in social isolation, grief, and loss among many adolescents. As the pandemic continues to impact individuals and communities across the globe, it is critical to address the psychological well-being of youths. More studies are needed to understand the effective ways adolescents cope with pandemic-related psychological distress. In this study, 146 students from 1 high school in a U.S. midwestern state completed an adapted version of Kidcope, a widely used coping instrument in disaster research, and measures were taken on generalized distress and COVID-19-related worries. Findings indicated that most students experienced COVID-19-related fears and general emotional distress. Additionally, we found that disengagement coping strategies were associated with lower general distress (p ≤ 0.05) and COVID-19 worries (p ≤ 0.10). Active coping was not associated with general distress and COVID-19 worries. Overall, our findings highlight the need to develop tailored interventions targeting youth coping strategies to reduce and prevent emotional distress and amplify healthy coping skills as the pandemic persists.