| Abstract [eng] |
Background: The COVID-19 pandemic is known to have various effects on adolescent’s mental health. This thesis is composed of a systemic review and an online survey assessing the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on adolescent’s mental health. Methods: For the qualitative systemic review, online databases (PubMed, Scorpus, GoogleSchoolar) were searched until February 3, 2023. The impact of homeschooling and COVID-19 pandemic on mental health, leisure time, school and family life has been assessed. The online survey was conducted with an anonymous questionnaire among students aged 15 to 20 years in Germany from 12. January 2023 to 21. March 2023. The questionnaire consisted of seven sections: 1. general questions, 2. school-related changes in student’s well-being, 3. health-related changes in student’s well-being, 4. restriction-related changes in student’s well-being and 5. leisure- and communication-related habits. These categories had to be answered as “changed”, “unchanged” or “worsened”. The question if participants are afraid of getting infected with COVID-19 had to be answered as “I am not afraid”, “I am neither fearless, nor afraid”, “I am afraid”, “I am very afraid”, “I do not know”. Four open-ended questions about strengths and weaknesses of home-schooling and school life since students returned to school after lockdown were included at the end of the questionnaire. Results: Adolescents reported a decrease in well-being, more depressive symptoms, and increased stress levels during homeschooling. Stress was shown to be associated with social isolation, distraction during work and loss of concentration and motivation as most prevalent during the period of remote studies. After remote studies have ended, stress levels remained high but were associated with the perceived pressure to fill the educational gap which has been created by the COVID-19 pandemic. In Germany, internet problems, technical obstacles and impended contact to teachers were described as most disturbing during home-schooling. The systemic review and the online survey agree that females report decreased mood, physical exercise and appetite more frequently compared to males. Moreover, fear of getting infected with COVID-19 was high during the period of remote studies but decreased after returning to school. Three years after the pandemic started, hygienic measures and COVID-19-related restrictions were reported as affecting well-being of German adolescents negatively. Positive aspects perceived during online studies were longer sleep in the morning, more leisure time, and the ability to gain more autonomy in the organization of learning and structuring daily life. Conclusion: The systematic review highlighted the deterioration of mental and physical well-being in adolescents during remote studies. The online survey drew the attention to the still existing changes in adolescent’s wellbeing three years after the pandemic has started. Further research is needed to follow-up adolescents’ health to detect long-term consequences of the pandemic on their physical and mental health to open the possibility to intervene tackle mental health problems in adolescents. |
