Kidcope and the COVID-19 Pandemic: Understanding High School Students' Coping and Emotional Well-Being.

Wan-Jung Hsieh,Kevin Tan,Jun-Hong Chen,Tara Powell

doi:10.3390/ijerph181910207

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in social isolation, grief, and loss among many adolescents. As the pandemic continues to impact individuals and communities across the globe, it is critical to address the psychological well-being of youths. More studies are needed to understand the effective ways adolescents cope with pandemic-related psychological distress. In this study, 146 students from 1 high school in a U.S. midwestern state completed an adapted version of Kidcope, a widely used coping instrument in disaster research, and measures were taken on generalized distress and COVID-19-related worries. Findings indicated that most students experienced COVID-19-related fears and general emotional distress. Additionally, we found that disengagement coping strategies were associated with lower general distress (p ≤ 0.05) and COVID-19 worries (p ≤ 0.10). Active coping was not associated with general distress and COVID-19 worries. Overall, our findings highlight the need to develop tailored interventions targeting youth coping strategies to reduce and prevent emotional distress and amplify healthy coping skills as the pandemic persists.

Highlights

The Coronavirus-19 (COVID-19) pandemic has created an unpreceded global public health crisis
We examined Disengagement coping, which is based on four items: “I just tried to forget about the COVID-19 pandemic”, “I did something like watch TV or played a game to forget it”, “I kept quiet about the COVID-19 problem”, and “I did not do anything because the COVID-19 problem could not be fixed”
We found that disengagement coping was associated with lower general emotional distress, whereas active coping had no effect on psychological outcomes

Summary

Introduction

The Coronavirus-19 (COVID-19) pandemic has created an unpreceded global public health crisis. The United States (U.S.) is among the countries most impacted by the pandemic, leading the world in confirmed cases and COVID-19-related deaths. The pandemic has significantly impacted school-aged youth. Since March 2020, many states in the U.S have abruptly and rapidly implemented disease containment policies by closing schools, activity centers, and educational institutes in an effort to reduce the transmission rates of COVID-19, which affects most of the 55 million students from across the nation [4]. It is important to understand factors that influence distress among youths in order to reduce the likelihood of adverse mental health consequences during the pandemic and over its long-term recovery. Public Health 2021, 18, 10207 pandemic during this life stage, can have detrimental consequences, especially if they are not equipped with the appropriate coping skills [12]

Methods

Findings

Discussion

Conclusion