Young Mental Status Improved During Corona 19?

As Corona 19 became popular around the world, measures such as urban bonggwa were taken, and there were reports that many people were mentally unstable. However, even though many adults complained of poor mental health, a study found that adolescents improved their mental health during this period.

Countermeasures against Corona 19 and the resulting city blockade have a large impact on daily life, and people are restricted from contacting close friends or traveling long distances, and industries such as restaurants suffered great economic losses. Not only adults but also students are exposed to many changes, such as switching classes remotely or not being able to meet friends.

A research team at Brigham Young University, San Diego State University, and the Institute for Family Studies in the United States conducted a survey of 1,523 adolescents residing in the United States to investigate how adolescents reacted during COVID-19.

The research team conducted a survey of adolescents from May to July 2020, including their mental health, family time, sleeping habits, use of technology, and opinions on racial discrimination protests. Among them, mental health was evaluated on four scales: dissatisfaction with life, unhappiness, depression, and loneliness.

As a result of comparing the results of this survey with a survey on adolescent mental health conducted in 2018, it was found that adolescent mental health was not only deteriorating during the period of Corona 19, but also improved in some aspects. Looking at the results of the 2018 survey on mental health, the period of staying in school during the Corona 19 period, and during the vacation period, loneliness and depression decreased significantly during the Corona 19 period than in 2018. In the case of dissatisfaction and unhappiness about life, the results showed that there was not much difference during the 2018 Corona 19 period.

The research team said that because the mental health of adolescents has deteriorated rapidly over the past 5 to 6 years, Corona 19 is also predicting the possibility of worsening adolescent mental health. The research team speculates that the change in lifestyle habits caused by the flu may be the reason for the relatively positive change in youth mental health despite Corona 19.

The first reason for the research team is to change your sleeping habits. In the 2018 survey, 55% of the youths said they were sleeping for more than 7 hours. However, in a survey while attending school during Corona 19, as many as 84% answered that they were sleeping for more than 7 hours. For this reason, they say that during the Corona 19 period, the school switched to online classes, so they can sleep as late as the morning commute.

In addition, the increase in time spent by youth with their families as numerous workers work from home during the epidemic period can be seen as alleviating the negative effects of Corona 19. Among adolescents, 56% said they had more conversations with their parents than before during Corona 19, 54% said they had more frequent dinners with their families, and 46% said they spent more time with their brothers.

Perhaps the most impressive result is that 68% of teenagers responded that their distance from their families was narrowed during the Corona 19 period. Adolescents who responded that the distance between their families decreased during the epidemic period, while only 15% experienced a mental health depression, while only 27% of adolescents who answered that the distance between families did not decrease reported a decrease in mental health.

The research team explained that although it is true that adolescents generally do not want to spend time with their parents and that friendship is certainly important, it is, in a sense, one of the few benefits of Corona 19 that it turns out that they want intimacy with their parents.

In addition to the mental health that the research team noted, there is an increase in the use of adolescent technology during COVID-19. It was expected that the use of social media would increase significantly because they could not meet friends during this period, but the use of social media was decreasing rather than in 2018.

While spending less time texting, social media, and games, they were spending more time chatting with their teenage friends and watching videos and movies. The research team speculates that the incidence of cyber violence has decreased due to the decrease in negative social media use during the epidemic. In addition, in this survey, 53% of teenagers answered that they feel that they have become strong and resilient humans due to the Corona 19 experience. This shows that teenagers who have experienced a special situation called Corona 19 will feel their own growth.

Of course, it has also been reported that adolescents were also feeling the effect of Corona 19. Of the total, 29% said they knew someone diagnosed with Corona 19, and 27% said their parents were unemployed during this period. Not a few teenagers were worried about their daily meals and family finances. Adolescents with this anxiety had a more severe mental health depression than those who did not. Overall, adolescent mental health improved due to Corona 19, but the importance of efforts to support youth is still high. Related information can be found here .