Table for One: Lunch Time is Lonely for Students During COVID-19

• In Event: Poster Session 14
  In Poster Session: PS 14 Topic - Social Relationships

Abstract

Background. The COVID-19 pandemic caused massive shifts to adolescents’ social experiences. For example, during traditional in-person education, students often eat lunch at school with peers and friends (Vereecken et al., 2009). These interactions are related to adolescent development, as positive peer contact is linked to youth’s psychosocial well-being and academic success (Larson & Verma, 1999). However, with the recent widespread transition to remote learning, students may not have the same opportunities to spend this time with others (Map: Coronavirus and School Closures, 2020). The current work examined high school students’ lunchtime interactions with peers both pre- and post-school closures, as well as what factors (e.g., sensation-seeking behaviors, social skills) may be related to whether students had lunch with other students in person, electronically, or not at all.

Methodology. Participants included 142 12th grade students (54.6% girls; 37.4% White, 37.3% Asian, 11% Multiethnic, 6.8% Latinx, 6.7% Other, <1% Black,). Students attended a public high school in the Western United States, and data were gathered as part of a larger multi-state longitudinal study of diverse high school students’ academic and psychosocial outcomes. Students completed daily online surveys both during standard in-person education and following their school’s transition to online remote learning, including questions about whether they had lunch, who they had lunch with, and whether lunchtime interactions occurred in person or electronically. Students also answered questions on sensation-seeking behaviors (e.g., “I like to do frightening things,” Zuckerman & Kuhlman, 2000) and social skills with peers (e.g., “I know how to make friends,” Matson, 1994).

Results. We found that youth were significantly more likely to have in-person lunches with their peers pre-closures than they were post-closures (t (100) = 9.384, p < .001). This significant difference remained even after accounting for students having lunch with peers either in person or electronically post-closures (t (106) = 4.082, p < .001). In addition, youth who did have lunch with others post-closures did so with significantly fewer peers than pre-closures (t (48) = 4.178, p < .001). Regarding potential reasons for students’ choices on how they had lunch with peers post-closures, those who did so in person reported no higher social skills than those who did so electronically (F (1) = 0.028, p = .787), but did report significantly higher sensation-seeking behaviors (F (1) = 11.372, p < .001).

Discussion. COVID-19 will continue to impact young people’s social interactions for the foreseeable future. Understanding the changing nature of these dynamics, especially as they relate to students’ school peers, is a necessity. Our findings indicate that students’ recent lunchtime social interactions have become far less frequent, less likely to occur in person, and occur with fewer peers. These trends may diminish youth’s opportunities to engage with their peers, and thus also diminish the numerous benefits such contact provides (e.g., social skills development, well-being). Furthermore, we find a noteworthy link between the choice to have lunch in person and youth’s sensation-seeking behaviors, informing researchers and educators about one reason students may dismiss COVID-19 social distancing guidelines.

Authors

• Michael Alan Medina, Boston University
  Presenting Author

• Adrienne Nishina, University of California - Davis
  Non-Presenting Author

• Amy Bellmore, University of Wisconsin-Madison
  Non-Presenting Author

• Melissa R Witkow, Willamette University
  Non-Presenting Author