Abstract
The purpose of the current study was to investigate the effects of COVID-19 on high school students' psychological symptoms and to understand how ready counselors and school counseling services are based on the data we have. Therefore, this research is designed under two different studies: (A) Study 1: Effects of COVID-19 pandemic on students' psychological symptoms and (B) Study 2: Views and expectations of students and school counselors about school counseling services. The first study was a quantitative study and included 549 high school students (398 female, 151 male). A structural equation model (SEM) was created to examine the effects of COVID-19 pandemic on participants' psychological symptoms. The Impact of Event Scale-Revised (IES-R) scores showed that 107 (19.50%) individuals had a score of 50 and above pointing out that individuals in this group had severe impact of event/trauma symptomologies. The SEM analysis indicated that IES-R scores had a total effect of 0.79 on anxiety, 0.75 on depression, 0.74 on negative self-concept, 0.68 on somatization, and 0.66 on hostility scores. Furthermore, female students had significantly higher scores on anxiety, depression, negative self-concept, somatization, hostility, and impact of events variables than male students. Study 2 was a qualitative design and consisted of five school counselors and five students from different schools. The results indicated that students' difficulties during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak were educational, cognitive, emotional, physiological, relational, technological, and related to routines. Academic, social, emotional, and behavioral issues came to the fore among the difficulties that can be experienced if students start face-to-face education. On the other hand, the school counselors listed that family relations, personal–social, emotional, and academic themes were the difficulties experienced by the students at the beginning of the COVID-19. In addition, when COVID-19 started, the services offered by school counselors were discussed under (1) services for the student, (2) services for the family, and (3) services for the teacher. Finally, according to the opinions of the school counselors, if students start face-to-face education, they may experience emotional, academic, and relational difficulties. In summary, it is vital that student personality services be prepared and implemented by school counseling services for schools based on the results.
Highlights
In December 2019, the Chinese government was stirred by the findings of unexplained lung infections in four people working at a seafood and live animal market in Wuhan and in people who visited this market at the time (Evren and Us, 2020)
A significant portion of participants showed traumatic symptoms during the quarantine restrictions. This finding is consistent with the previous studies just conducted in 2020 in other countries and cultures, stating that COVID-19 is an unusual, unexpected and traumatic event affecting individuals and societies in a wide range (Brooks et al, 2020; Demertzis and Eyerman, 2020; Fardin, 2020; Lei and Klopack, 2020; U-M Department of Psychiatry, 2020; Wang et al, 2020)
Students’ Needs According to the results of the study, the students expressed the difficulties they experienced at the onset of COVID-19 as educational, cognitive, emotional, physiological, relational, and technological difficulties and those related to routines
Summary
In December 2019, the Chinese government was stirred by the findings of unexplained lung infections in four people working at a seafood and live animal market in Wuhan and in people who visited this market at the time (Evren and Us, 2020). In the 2020–2021 academic year, face-to-face education started with first graders, eighth graders, and high school 12th grades, but with the rapid increase in the number of cases (2nd Wave), schools were closed again, and full-time distance education continued. In this context, planned sports activities and all kinds of scientific events and artistic activities were postponed or canceled [Türkiye Bilimler Akademisi (TÜBA), 2020]
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