Abstract
To improve our understanding of the mental health consequences of the shift to distance learning during the COVID-19 pandemic, this study examined which factors are associated with increased school-related stress in adolescents. The sample consists of 16,093 adolescents, aged 12 to 18, who were enrolled in secondary education in Flanders, Belgium in May 2020. Stepwise binomial logistic regressions were used to investigate associations between the (online) learning environment, family-, and peer-related factors and increased stress in adolescents, controlling for sociodemographic characteristics. Results show that overcrowding, financial difficulties, and domestic violence are risk factors for increased stress, while social support and no material deprivation are protective factors. These findings suggest that, in addition to distributing the necessary materials for distance learning, also social policy efforts are required to compensate for the negative effects of distance learning. Without this, distance learning may fail to deliver equal educational opportunities and outcomes.
Highlights
The rapid spread of the COVID-19 pandemic from March 2020 onward turned homes around the world into classrooms in a couple of weeks, if not days (Bayrakdar and Guveli, 2020)
The studies that have been conducted on adolescents during the pandemic indicate that they experience increased stress due to insecurities about academic evaluations, potential study delays, and precarious living conditions (Bozkurt et al, 2020; Crabbendam and Goes, 2020; Di Pietro et al, 2020; Xie et al, 2020)
Based on recent reports from the World Health Organization (2020) and the Amerixan Psychological Association (2019), we identified several factors that are associated with school-related stress in adolescents: the learning environment, family- and peer-related factors
Summary
The rapid spread of the COVID-19 pandemic from March 2020 onward turned homes around the world into classrooms in a couple of weeks, if not days (Bayrakdar and Guveli, 2020). Burgess and Sievertsen (2020) estimate that closing schools for 60 days (12 weeks) would result in a significant decrease in test scores In this regard, Maldonado and De Witte (2020) documented that Flemish (the northern, Dutch-speaking region of Belgium) adolescents who were in the final year of primary education during the COVID19 school closures experienced significant learning losses, with a decrease in school averages of mathematics scores of 0.19 standard deviations and of Dutch scores of 0.29 standard deviations, Distance Learning and Stress when compared to earlier cohorts. Maldonado and De Witte (2020) documented that Flemish (the northern, Dutch-speaking region of Belgium) adolescents who were in the final year of primary education during the COVID19 school closures experienced significant learning losses, with a decrease in school averages of mathematics scores of 0.19 standard deviations and of Dutch scores of 0.29 standard deviations, Distance Learning and Stress when compared to earlier cohorts This is equivalent to losing half a year of learning. These findings hold when accounting for school characteristics and test results in earlier grades (Maldonado and De Witte, 2020)
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