Document Type
Article
Journal/Book Title/Conference
Child Indicators Research
Author ORCID Identifier
Michael J. Furlong https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5011-4565
Mei-ki Chan https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6451-2417
Erin Dowdy https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6402-3277
Karen Nylund-Gibson https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3499-1052
Publisher
Springer Dordrecht
Publication Date
3-1-2024
Journal Article Version
Version of Record
First Page
1
Last Page
30
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Abstract
Managing the COVID-19 pandemic involved implementing public health policies that disrupted students' lives, creating conditions that substantially influenced their mental health and well-being. Subsequently, research focused don the mental health sequelae of increased depression and anxiety, but the possible impacts on adolescents' social well-being have been largely unexamined. Social well-being is essential to youth's overall mental health and can be diminished even without symptoms of depression and anxiety. This report explored heterogeneities in changes in adolescents' social well-being from pre-COVID-19 to post-restrictions using longitudinal data from adolescents attending middle and high schools in California (N = 1,299; 49.9% female). Data collection involved four observations. Participants completed a school-based mental health wellness survey annually from 2019 to 2022. A latent profile analysis identified five profiles demonstrating distinctive social well-being trajectories. Two ordered profiles included Stable-High (28%) and Stable-Low (26%) patterns. Three groups represented nonordered profiles labeled as Succumbing (20%), Languishing (14%), and Recovering (12%). Pervasive decreases in social well-being were observed, and a significant portion of the adolescents did not recover to their pre-COVID-19 level by 2022. Adolescents in the Stable-High and Recovering profiles showed better psychological well-being, optimism, and school connectedness and less distress than their counterparts in the other three profiles. Mental health professionals should be aware of the pandemic's effects on adolescents' social well-being. Lower levels of social well-being may be a risk factor for adolescents developing generally jaded attitudes about their social networks and diminishing their potential engagement with sources of social support.
Recommended Citation
Furlong, M.J., Chan, Mk., Dowdy, E. et al. Diminished Adolescent Social Well-Being During the COVID-19 Pandemic. Child Ind Res (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12187-024-10108-7
