IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/chinre/v17y2024i2d10.1007_s12187-024-10108-7.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Diminished Adolescent Social Well-Being During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Author

Listed:
  • Michael J. Furlong

    (University of California Santa Barbara)

  • Mei-ki Chan

    (Utah State University)

  • Erin Dowdy

    (University of California Santa Barbara)

  • Karen Nylund-Gibson

    (University of California Santa Barbara)

Abstract

Managing the COVID-19 pandemic involved implementing public health policies that disrupted students’ lives, creating conditions that substantially influenced their mental health and well-being. Subsequently, research focused on the mental health sequelae of increased depression and anxiety, but the possible impacts on adolescents’ social well-being have been largely unexamined. Social well-being is essential to youth’s overall mental health and can be diminished even without symptoms of depression and anxiety. This report explored heterogeneities in changes in adolescents’ social well-being from pre-COVID-19 to post-restrictions using longitudinal data from adolescents attending middle and high schools in California (N = 1,299; 49.9% female). Data collection involved four observations. Participants completed a school-based mental health wellness survey annually from 2019 to 2022. A latent profile analysis identified five profiles demonstrating distinctive social well-being trajectories. Two ordered profiles included Stable-High (28%) and Stable-Low (26%) patterns. Three groups represented nonordered profiles labeled as Succumbing (20%), Languishing (14%), and Recovering (12%). Pervasive decreases in social well-being were observed, and a significant portion of the adolescents did not recover to their pre-COVID-19 level by 2022. Adolescents in the Stable-High and Recovering profiles showed better psychological well-being, optimism, and school connectedness and less distress than their counterparts in the other three profiles. Mental health professionals should be aware of the pandemic’s effects on adolescents’ social well-being. Lower levels of social well-being may be a risk factor for adolescents developing generally jaded attitudes about their social networks and diminishing their potential engagement with sources of social support.

Suggested Citation

  • Michael J. Furlong & Mei-ki Chan & Erin Dowdy & Karen Nylund-Gibson, 2024. "Diminished Adolescent Social Well-Being During the COVID-19 Pandemic," Child Indicators Research, Springer;The International Society of Child Indicators (ISCI), vol. 17(2), pages 901-930, April.
  • Handle: RePEc:spr:chinre:v:17:y:2024:i:2:d:10.1007_s12187-024-10108-7
    DOI: 10.1007/s12187-024-10108-7
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s12187-024-10108-7
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s12187-024-10108-7?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    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:spr:chinre:v:17:y:2024:i:2:d:10.1007_s12187-024-10108-7. 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.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using 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: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.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.