IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v19y2022i14p8261-d857148.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The COVID-19 Pandemic and Adolescents’ Psychological Distress: A Multinational Cross-Sectional Study

Author

Listed:
  • Hang T. M. Nguyen

    (Faculty of Psychology, University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Hanoi 10000, Vietnam)

  • Hoang V. Nguyen

    (Department of Psychology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN 55455, USA)

  • Btissame Zouini

    (UAE/U24FS, FS, Abdelmalek Essaâdi University, Tetouan 90100, Morocco)

  • Meftaha Senhaji

    (UAE/U24FS, FS, Abdelmalek Essaâdi University, Tetouan 90100, Morocco)

  • Kourosh Bador

    (AGERA KBT, 41138 Gothenburg, Sweden)

  • Zsuzsa Szombathyne Meszaros

    (Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, SUNY Upstate Medical University, Syracuse, NY 13210, USA)

  • Dejan Stevanovic

    (Department of Psychiatry, Clinic for Neurology and Psychiatry for Children and Youth, 11000 Belgrade, Serbia)

  • Nóra Kerekes

    (Department of Health Sciences, University West, 46132 Trollhattan, Sweden)

Abstract

Background: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has continued for more than two years, and the impact of this pandemic on mental health has become one of the most important research topics in psychiatry and psychology. The aim of the present study was to assess psychological distress in adolescents across five countries (Sweden, Morocco, Serbia, Vietnam, and the United States of America) during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: Using nonparametric analyses we examined the impact of COVID-19 on distress, measured by the Brief Symptom Inventory, in a sample of 4670 adolescents. Results: Our results showed that the association between the COVID-19 impact and psychological distress in adolescents’ lives was positive and moderate in Morocco and Serbia, positive and weak in Vietnam and the United States of America, and negative and weak in Sweden. We also found that female adolescents reported higher distress levels than male adolescents. Conclusions: COVID-19 impacted adolescents and their psychological distress differently depending on their residence.

Suggested Citation

  • Hang T. M. Nguyen & Hoang V. Nguyen & Btissame Zouini & Meftaha Senhaji & Kourosh Bador & Zsuzsa Szombathyne Meszaros & Dejan Stevanovic & Nóra Kerekes, 2022. "The COVID-19 Pandemic and Adolescents’ Psychological Distress: A Multinational Cross-Sectional Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(14), pages 1-16, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:14:p:8261-:d:857148
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/14/8261/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/14/8261/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Salima Meherali & Neelam Punjani & Samantha Louie-Poon & Komal Abdul Rahim & Jai K. Das & Rehana A. Salam & Zohra S. Lassi, 2021. "Mental Health of Children and Adolescents Amidst COVID-19 and Past Pandemics: A Rapid Systematic Review," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(7), pages 1-16, March.
    2. Nóra Kerekes & Kourosh Bador & Anis Sfendla & Mohjat Belaatar & Abdennour El Mzadi & Vladimir Jovic & Rade Damjanovic & Maria Erlandsson & Hang Thi Minh Nguyen & Nguyet Thi Anh Nguyen & Scott F. Ulber, 2021. "Changes in Adolescents’ Psychosocial Functioning and Well-Being as a Consequence of Long-Term COVID-19 Restrictions," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(16), pages 1-22, August.
    3. Webbink, Ellen & Smits, Jeroen & de Jong, Eelke, 2012. "Hidden Child Labor: Determinants of Housework and Family Business Work of Children in 16 Developing Countries," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 40(3), pages 631-642.
    4. Marla Andréia Garcia de Avila & Pedro Tadao Hamamoto Filho & Francine Letícia da Silva Jacob & Léia Regina Souza Alcantara & Malin Berghammer & Margaretha Jenholt Nolbris & Patricia Olaya-Contreras & , 2020. "Children’s Anxiety and Factors Related to the COVID-19 Pandemic: An Exploratory Study Using the Children’s Anxiety Questionnaire and the Numerical Rating Scale," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(16), pages 1-13, August.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Guillermo Alonso Cervantes-Cardona & Adriana Nápoles-Echauri & Nicolas Alonso-Estrella & Francisco Javier Hernández-Mora & Enrique Cervantes-Pérez & Gabino Cervantes-Guevara & Benjamín García-Reyna & , 2022. "Prevalence of Dysexecutive Symptoms in High School Students during the COVID-19 Pandemic," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(23), pages 1-9, November.
    2. Mario J. Valladares-Garrido & Cinthia Karina Picón-Reátegui & J. Pierre Zila-Velasque & Pamela Grados-Espinoza & Cristian M. Hinostroza-Zarate & Virgilio E. Failoc-Rojas & César Johan Pereira-Victorio, 2022. "Suicide Risk in Military Personnel during the COVID-19 Health Emergency in a Peruvian Region: A Cross-Sectional Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(20), pages 1-16, October.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Nguyen Thang Dao & Julio Dávila & Angela Greulich, 2021. "The education gender gap and the demographic transition in developing countries," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 34(2), pages 431-474, April.
    2. Margarida Frade dos Santos & Celeste Simões & Anabela Caetano Santos & Paula Lebre & Ilaria Grazzani, 2022. "Does Online Implementation Make a Difference in the Effects of a Mental Health Curriculum at Schools?," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(24), pages 1-18, December.
    3. Francesco Demaria & Stefano Vicari, 2023. "Adolescent Distress: Is There a Vaccine? Social and Cultural Considerations during the COVID-19 Pandemic," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(3), pages 1-11, January.
    4. Eleonora Marzilli & Luca Cerniglia & Renata Tambelli & Elena Trombini & Leonardo De Pascalis & Alessandra Babore & Carmen Trumello & Silvia Cimino, 2021. "The COVID-19 Pandemic and Its Impact on Families’ Mental Health: The Role Played by Parenting Stress, Parents’ Past Trauma, and Resilience," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(21), pages 1-15, October.
    5. Anna Maria Werling & Susanne Walitza & Stephan Eliez & Renate Drechsler, 2022. "The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Mental Health Care of Children and Adolescents in Switzerland: Results of a Survey among Mental Health Care Professionals after One Year of COVID-19," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(6), pages 1-14, March.
    6. Marion Dovis & Patricia Augier & Clémentine Sadania, 2021. "Labor Market Shocks and Youths’ Time Allocation in Egypt: Where Does Women’s Empowerment Come In?," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 69(4), pages 1501-1540.
    7. Kasper Brandt & Longinus Rutasitara & Onesmo Selejio & Neda Trifkovic, 2017. "Entrepreneurship and human capital development in children," WIDER Working Paper Series 198, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    8. Daniel Acosta & Yui Fujii & Diana Joyce-Beaulieu & K. D. Jacobs & Anthony T. Maurelli & Eric J. Nelson & Sarah L. McKune, 2021. "Psychosocial Health of K-12 Students Engaged in Emergency Remote Education and In-Person Schooling: A Cross-Sectional Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(16), pages 1-21, August.
    9. Luigi Aldieri, 2023. "Il ruolo degli aspetti non monetari per la determinazione della situazione di benessere: Un’analisi regionale in Italia," Regional Economy, , vol. 7(Q2), pages 47088-47088.
    10. Lubna Naz & Abdul Salam Lodhi & Daniel W. Tsegai, 2020. "Parents’ Perception of Education and Choice of Childhood Activities: Evidence from Pakistan," The Pakistan Development Review, Pakistan Institute of Development Economics, vol. 59(3), pages 335-355.
    11. Julio Torales & Iván Barrios & Juan Edgar Tullo-Gómez & Osvaldo Melgarejo & Nora Gómez & Viviana Riego & Rodrigo Navarro & Oscar García & Pamela Figueredo & José Almirón-Santacruz & Tomás Caych, 2023. "Suicides among Children and Adolescents in Paraguay: An 18-year National Exploratory Study (2004–2022)," International Journal of Social Psychiatry, , vol. 69(7), pages 1649-1657, November.
    12. Andi Muhammad Tri Sakti & Siti Zaiton Mohd Ajis & Arina Anis Azlan & Hyung Joon Kim & Elizabeth Wong & Emma Mohamad, 2022. "Impact of COVID-19 on School Populations and Associated Factors: A Systematic Review," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(7), pages 1-17, March.
    13. Panagis Galiatsatos & Vanya Jones & Jacqueline Bryan & Meghan Brown & Olivia Banks & Brittany Martin & Megan Collins & Catherine Ling & Mindi B. Levin & Audrey Johnson & Alicia Wilson & Annette Anders, 2023. "The Health Education and Training (HEAT) Corps: A Medical–Community Collaboration Response during the COVID-19 Pandemic," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(3), pages 1-8, January.
    14. Dayang Haszelinna binti Abang Ali & G. Reza Arabsheibani, 2016. "Child Labour in Indonesia: Supply-Side Determinants," Economics and Finance in Indonesia, Faculty of Economics and Business, University of Indonesia, vol. 62, pages 162-179, December.
    15. Muhammad Qahraman Kakar, 2021. "Ethnic Disparities, Women Education and Empowerment in South Asia," Erudite Ph.D Dissertations, Erudite, number ph21-01 edited by Manon Domingues Dos Santos, April.
    16. Sushobhan Mahata & Rohan Kanti Khan & Soumyajit Mandal, 2023. "Dowry and Female Education: A Theoretical Evaluation (Article)," The Pakistan Development Review, Pakistan Institute of Development Economics, vol. 62(1), pages 41-59.
    17. Anis Sfendla & Kourosh Bador & Michela Paganelli & Nóra Kerekes, 2022. "Swedish High School Students’ Drug and Alcohol Use Habits throughout 2020," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(24), pages 1-15, December.
    18. Ákos Levente Tóth & Zsuzsanna Kívés & Etelka Szovák & Réka Kresák & Sára Jeges & Bendegúz Kertai & Imre Zoltán Pelyva, 2022. "Sense of Coherence and Self-Rated Aggression of Adolescents during the First Wave of the COVID-19 Pandemic, with a Focus on the Effects of Animal Assisted Activities," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(1), pages 1-13, December.
    19. Pierre-Richard Agénor & Baris Alpaslan, 2013. "Child Labor, Intra-Household Bargaining and Economic Growth," Centre for Growth and Business Cycle Research Discussion Paper Series 181, Economics, The University of Manchester.
    20. Md. Moyazzem Hossain & Faruq Abdulla & Abdul Hai & Md Tareq Ferdous Khan & Azizur Rahman & Atikur Rahman, 2023. "Exploring the Prevalence, Duration and Determinants of Participation in Household Chores Among Children Aged 5–17 Years in Bangladesh," Child Indicators Research, Springer;The International Society of Child Indicators (ISCI), vol. 16(5), pages 2107-2124, October.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:14:p:8261-:d:857148. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.