The Invisible Struggle: Impact of COVID-19 and Digital Inequality on Students’ Mental Well-Being

This phenomenological study sought to understand the lived experiences of socially disadvantaged students from the Universidad Nacional, Costa Rica, who faced digital inequality during emergency remote education amid the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as their challenges vis-à-vis the transition to in-person classes in 2022. Using a hermeneutic phenomenological design, data were collected through semi-structured and focus-group interviews with five EFL students from two TESOL programs. The data analysis followed Colaizzi’s (1978) model, a multi-step process that includes extracting significant statements, formulating meanings, organizing them into categories and themes, and validating results through member checks. Findings assist an understanding of the complex impact of digital inequality on the mental health of socially disadvantaged students and the transition back to in-person classes. The research proves not only significant but also vital since it sheds light on the lived experiences of learners amidst an event whose psychological toll is yet to be fully comprehended.

The early and middle years of childhood are recognised as being pivotal in ensuring positive cognitive development throughout life, resulting in healthier societies. Healthier societies can mean a reduction in lifestyle related illness and therefore potentially reduce reliance on healthcare resources. The purpose of this study was to forecast the Social Return on Investment (SROI) associated with children’s participation in a circus-arts program on their mental health and well-being. A mixed method approach was adopted for this study. Key stakeholders were children aged between 9 and 14 years. Children were surveyed (n = 23) and participated in focus group (n = 55) interviews, prior to and after, six months of circus-arts training. The questionnaire used was the internationally validated Kidscreen-27. Focus group interviews asked children their beliefs about how circus made them feel and benefits of participating in circus-arts training. Results from the pre/post survey indicated some positive improvements occurred concerning children’s’ self-perceptions of personal health, though not statistically significant. Focus group results indicated positive impacts for children’s mental wellbeing, socialisation skills, physical enjoyment and resilience. The SROI analysis found that for every one dollar invested, $7 of social return may be generated due to participation in a circus-arts program. Improvement occurred across four key areas concerning children’s mental health and well-being; stress relief, self-esteem, confidence and socialisation. Findings from this study indicate the value of investment in the performing arts, highlighting the importance the circus-arts for children’s mental health. Associated impacts to improving children’s self-esteem, confidence along with relieving stress are identified as decreasing the potential costs of treating associated illnesses: such as depression and anxiety. Improvements in socialisation have been linked to costs associated to social dysfunction: such as crime and incarceration.

IntroductionDigital inequality is the unequal distribution of digital and internet-based devices, utilities and services. Digital legacy is the digital and virtual remnant that an individual leaves when they die. Globally,...

The Covid-19 pandemic has created challenges and caused disruption across the Higher Education sector; university campuses closed, and face-to-face teaching and assessment shifted to an online format. Learning from our students’ experience during this period will help us shape future hybrid delivery so that it best fits Bioscience students. This pedagogical study explored Aston University’s Bioscience students’ experiences of studying from home, and the impact of the lockdown on mental wellbeing and quality of life. 151 students completed an online survey during August 2020, which included open and closed questions. Analysis of survey data revealed that a majority of students reported positive experiences of online open-book assessments and most would welcome this format in the future. The majority of students faced no technical issues, predominantly stating that they also had good internet connectivity. Shifting to remote learning and online classrooms uncovered conflicting preferences; despite wanting more interactive lectures, only half of the students were comfortable interacting using video cameras. Free text responses provided an insight into how some students reported an inadequate home working space/environment and lacked necessary items such as a desk, highlighting how remote working may intensify social and digital inequality - particularly for students from more deprived households. Wider detrimental experiences of lockdown included dissatisfaction with access to healthcare, decreased concentration, sleeping difficulties and a decline in mental wellbeing. Education strategies going forward will need to address the mental health needs of students who have suffered during the pandemic. Our university, amongst others, is embracing hybrid course delivery, which could offer a solution to ensuring Bioscience students receive hands-on laboratory experience and face-to-face contact to remain motivated and benefit from the on-campus facilities and support, whilst allowing students some of the flexibility afforded by remote study. In the current competitive higher education market where student retention is key, it is important to consider student demographics and digital equity to ensure an appropriate approach is applied to cater for all students.

AimsThe combined impact of race discrimination and COVID-19 on the everyday lives of Black Asian and minority ethnic families and communities has drawn to the fore the glaring inequalities that...

The rapid deployment of emergency remote teaching in the pandemic presents sweeping societal‐level information systems phenomena worthy of scholarly inquiry. This paper reports findings from teacher interviews conducted with K‐12 public school teachers, exploring how digital access and use gaps in communities reflect wider digital and social inequalities as schools fulfilled emergency remote teaching mandates, becoming swept up into e‐learning technology expansion trends propelled by mandates, and unfettered corporate edtech. Results show persistence of home and school level digital affordance gaps as hindrances to pandemic pedagogy. We build upon theory of the digital divide, and crisis and critical informatics literature considering how critical approaches to the study of socio‐technical systems research can inform these understandings, providing insights into how localized digital inequities contribute to broader digital inequality and social inequality, in the educative processes expected of public education in democratic societies. Our work gives voice to one highly pressured and conflicted stakeholder in these dynamics—K‐12 public school teachers—and demonstrates some of the ways in which digital inequity gaps may play a further magnifying role of societal division through expanding edtech deployment in K‐12 grades, if current edtech trends hold.

Introduction & BackgroundSocial media use has been proposed as a cause of worsening mental health and wellbeing over the last decade, but its role in mitigating some of the effects of social distancing during the pandemic showed that it also has the potential to improve these outcomes. Whilst existing research disagrees on the degree to which social media use harms or helps, there is growing consensus around the need to move from global measures of social media use to specific measures of types of social media use. These new measures can enable an exploration of proposed mechanisms and causal pathways linking social media use and mental health and wellbeing. A commonly proposed mechanism is nighttime social media use reducing sleep quality, and consequently harming mental health and wellbeing.
 Objectives & ApproachWe aimed to investigate the relationships between the time Twitter users post content and their mental health, wellbeing and sleep quality using direct measurements of Twitter use linked to standardised mental health measures in a well-characterized cohort.
 This study uses approximately 1.5 million Tweets harvested between January 2008 and March 2023 from 622 participants in the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC). These Tweets have been linked to questionnaire data collected on six occasions spanning April 2019 to May 2021. These questionnaires included standard measures of depressive symptoms, anxiety symptoms, mental wellbeing and difficulty sleeping.We have taken two approaches to explore these relationships, using circular statistical methods novel to social media data analysis to account for day/night cycles. The first approach used mixed effect models to investigate the association between the time a Tweet was posted and the mental health, mental wellbeing and sleep quality of the poster. The second approach explored the relationships between the mean hour participants post Tweets in a given time period, and their mental health, mental wellbeing and sleep quality.
 Relevance to Digital FootprintsThis research is highly relevant to Digital Footprints, due to its use of data directly extracted from a social media site. The methodologies employed in analysing this alongside more traditional epidemiological survey data provides an example of how digital footprint data can complemented by high quality ground truths.
 ResultsThere was evidence that the timing of Twitter activity was predictive of the mental wellbeing and sleep quality of participants, even after adjustment for demographic, educational and socio-economic covariates. However, the hour a Tweet was posted at explained very little of the variation in the mental wellbeing or sleep quality of the participant who posted it (0.1% and less than 0.1% respectively). There was weak to no evidence that the timing of Twitter activity was predictive of the depressive and anxiety symptoms of participants.
 Conclusions & ImplicationsWhilst this study found evidence that the hour participants post on Twitter is predictive of their mental wellbeing and sleep quality, the amount of variation explained by these models suggests that this is not a clinically relevant risk factor. This study supports arguments in the literature that the use of social media has a very small and insignificant effect on mental health, wellbeing and sleep quality.

BackgroundThe mental health impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and quarantining on children and young people (CYP) living in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) has yet to be fully comprehended. CYP in LMICs are at utmost risk, given the COVID-19-related restrictions and social distancing measures, resulting in reduced access to school-based services for nutritional and mental health needs. This study examined mental health of CYP during the first COVID-19 lockdown in Zambia and Sierra Leone.MethodA total of 468 disabled and disadvantaged CYP aged 12 to 25 completed a planning tool that comprised the short Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Wellbeing Scale (SWEMWBS), as well as open-ended questions covering social connectedness, physical distancing and educational challenges during the lockdown. The community coaches screened individuals and families who could be eligible to receive emergency aid, and based on a convenience sample following distribution of aid, recipients were invited to complete the planning tool.ResultsThe data showed that participants in the global south have increasing anxieties and fears centred on accessing offline educational resources and income loss in the family effecting food security and their ability to return to education. Mean (SD) SWEMWBS scores for all participants in Zambia and Sierra Leone, were 19.61 (3.45) and 21.65 (2.84), respectively. Mental well-being scores were lower in females, children aged 12–14 and participants with two or more disabilities. Factors significantly associated with poor mental wellbeing in the sample were: type of disability, nationality, peer relationships, connection to others during the pandemic, knowledge about COVID-19, worry about the long-term impact of COVID-19, and the types of self-isolating.ConclusionThe study shows that participants who self-reported low levels of COVID-19 health literacy also scored low on the mental wellbeing self-assessment. Yet, despite undoubted limited resources, these CYP are doing well in identifying their needs and maintaining hope in the face of the problems associated with COVID-19 in countries where stigma persists around mental ill-health.

Despite experiencing many adversities, American Indian and Alaska Native populations have demonstrated tremendous resilience during the COVID-19 pandemic, drawing upon Indigenous determinants of health (IDOH) and Indigenous Nation Building. Our multidisciplinary team undertook this study to achieve two aims: (1) to determine the role of IDOH in tribal government policy and action that supports Indigenous mental health and well-being and, in turn, resilience during the COVID-19 crisis and (2) to document the impact of IDOH on Indigenous mental health, well-being, and resilience of 4 community groups, specifically first responders, educators, traditional knowledge holders and practitioners, and members of the substance use recovery community, working in or near 3 Native nations in Arizona. To guide this study, we developed a conceptual framework based on IDOH, Indigenous Nation Building, and concepts of Indigenous mental well-being and resilience. The research process was guided by the Collective benefit, Authority to control, Responsibility, Ethics (CARE) principles for Indigenous Data Governance to honor tribal and data sovereignty. Data were collected through a multimethods research design, including interviews, talking circles, asset mapping, and coding of executive orders. Special attention was placed on the assets and culturally, socially, and geographically distinct features of each Native nation and the communities within them. Our study was unique in that our research team consisted predominantly of Indigenous scholars and community researchers representing at least 8 tribal communities and nations in the United States. The members of the team, regardless of whether they identified themselves as Indigenous or non-Indigenous, have many collective years of experience working with Indigenous Peoples, which ensures that the approach is culturally respectful and appropriate. The number of participants enrolled in this study was 105 adults, with 92 individuals interviewed and 13 individuals engaged in 4 talking circles. Because of time constraints, the team elected to host talking circles with only 1 nation, with participants ranging from 2 to 6 in each group. Currently, we are in the process of conducting a qualitative analysis of the transcribed narratives from interviews, talking circles, and executive orders. These processes and outcomes will be described in future studies. This community-engaged study lays the groundwork for future studies addressing Indigenous mental health, well-being, and resilience. Findings from this study will be shared through presentations and publications with larger Indigenous and non-Indigenous audiences, including local recovery groups, treatment centers, and individuals in recovery; K-12 and higher education educators and administrators; directors of first responder agencies; traditional medicine practitioners; and elected community leaders. The findings will also be used to produce well-being and resilience education materials, in-service training sessions, and future recommendations for stakeholder organizations. DERR1-10.2196/44727.

Physical activity is well-recognized as a key risk factor for the management and prevention of mental ill-health, including anxiety and depression. The specific volumes, intensities or types of physical activity with the greatest impact on mental health are currently unclear. The current study sought to explore what aspects of physical activity may have positive or negative impacts on mental health and wellbeing. Focus group interviews were conducted with 10 adolescent females, and transcripts were analyzed using thematic analysis. Three higher-order themes, tenets of self-determination theory, were identified; autonomy, competence and relatedness. Single-factor sub-themes such as opportunity, journey to competence and facilitator of connection were identified as multi-factor sub-themes such as fun or enjoyment, and engagement in the activity. The perception of physical activity as an opportunity was identified as a key factor in contributing to positive mental health and wellbeing. It appears that autonomously motivated physical activity experiences provide the greatest levels of satisfaction for adolescents’ psychological needs and therefore, they are the most effective method of enhancing mental wellbeing through physical activity. Future physical activity experiences should include an element of choice along with opportunities to engage in social interaction alongside opportunities for progression and achievement, as these appear to provide the best environment to foster positive mental wellbeing in adolescents.

The childcare setting is a critical environment to observe, and also influence, children’s mental wellbeing. However, little research has examined the experiences and ability of Australian family day care (FDC) educators in supporting children’s mental wellbeing. The present study aimed to explore how training, COVID-19, and partnerships influence FDC educators’ ability to promote children’s mental wellbeing. Seven FDC educators engaged in semi-structured interviews, and thematic analysis identified six themes. These were (1) more than a babysitter; (2) experience is the best teacher; (3) close and supportive relationships, which included a sense of exile as a subordinate theme; (4) it takes a village to raise a child; (5) fear and uncertainty; and (6) business and relational difficulties. The research suggests that support for FDC educators through adequate training and strong partnerships more effectively promotes children’s mental wellbeing.

Race and Digital Inequalities: Policy Implications

Understanding the Health and Well-Being of Early Adolescents Throughout the World: Findings From the 2017–2018 Survey of Health Behavior in School-Aged Children

This editorial presents a commentary on COVID-19 and mental health in Hong Kong. We outline the current measures being used to contain the outbreak and how the experience of the SARS epidemic may have influenced the response in Hong Kong. We also discuss the potential mental health ill-effects of the pandemic and its impact on mental health nursing locally.

IntroductionImprovement in the National Health Service (NHS) employees’ mental well-being and staff retention are current key issues. Evidence indicates that dance movement therapy (DMT) has been effective in improving mental health and well-being; however, a social return on investment (SROI) evaluation on DMT interventions aimed at NHS staff has not been performed. This protocol for an SROI study will explore the social value generated from DMT, specifically ‘The Body Moving Self-Compassion’ programme, as measured by the increase in personal well-being and resilience experienced by participants. The SROI evaluation aims to measure the monetary and social value generated through DMT by placing a monetary value which is essential for sound policy in accessing investment while contributing evidence of dance/movement’s impact on health.MethodsSROI is a pragmatic form of social cost-benefit analysis which uses quantitative and qualitative methods to value relevant costs, outcomes and associated impact. A mixed-methods approach design (focus group, online questionnaire and semistructured interviews) will be employed in this SROI study. SROI takes a societal perspective and considers relevant and significant outcomes for participants. Monetary values which often do not have a market price are then assigned to these outcomes. Contingent valuation is integrated into this study to estimate individuals’ choices, preferences and values associated with DMT. The social value generated by the identified outcomes will then be estimated in a similar way to cost-benefit analysis, and the ratio of social value generated per £1 invested is then calculated.Ethics and disseminationEthical approval for this study has been granted by the Faculty of Life Sciences and Education Ethics Subgroup at the University of South Wales, with Reference No. 230 236LR. The findings from this SROI study will result in a report and academic publications.