Adolescents' Social Support, Stress, and Adjustment Across the First Six Months of the COVID-19 Pandemic

• In Event: Different Ages, Different Challenges: COVID-19-Related Distress and Coping

Abstract

Introduction. The COVID-19 outbreak triggered a global lockdown response, resulting in physical isolation, economic instability, fear, and stress surrounding the uncertainty of the future. For adolescents, this stress is especially worrisome due their increasing desire for autonomy and peer connection, as well as underdeveloped cognitive mechanisms and a surge in mental health concerns during this developmental stage. Friends, family, and communities have come together online. However, the benefit of these virtual connections remains unclear. In addition, many teens have continued to ignore public health guidelines and socialize with their peers in person. With peer connections strained due to ongoing physical restrictions, many teens are spending unprecedented time with parents. In the present study, the implications of friend and family connections for adolescent adjustment were examined over the first 6 months of the pandemic.
Method. This study measured adolescents’ COVID-19-related stress across the first 6 months of the pandemic and examined family and friend support (in person and online) as longitudinal predictors of loneliness and depression. Survey data were collected from 444 participants between ages 14-19 (M age = 17.03, females = 356) in two waves (April and August 2020).
COVID-19-related stress decreased over time, such that 43% of teens reported being “very concerned” about the pandemic at Time 1 and 25% at Time 2. Despite this decrease, regression analysis while controlling for Time 1 COVID-19-related stress, revealed that poor adjustment, as indicated by depressive symptoms in the Spring, predicted heightened COVID-19-related stress in late Summer ( β = .079, SE = .025, t (419) = 2.992).
Results. The role of family and friends in predicting loneliness and depression was examined over time using two regression models. First, reported parent support (β = -.107, SE = .044, t (415) = -2.419), but not friend support at Time 1, predicted lower depression at Time 2, over and above Time 1 depression. Concurrent predictors in the regression model showed that in person time with friends at Time 2 (β = -.044, SE = .021, t (415) = -2.123) was an additional negative predictor of depression but online interactions with friends was not. Second, Time 1 friend support (β = -.093, SE = .032, t (414) = -2.943), but not family support, predicted less loneliness over time, controlling for Time 1 loneliness. Concurrent predictors showed that in person connections with friends at Time 2 was an additional predictor of less loneliness (β = -.048, SE = .012, t (414) = -3.99), but virtual connections was not.
Discussion. This longitudinal work demonstrates the need to examine adolescents’ adjustment throughout the pandemic. Higher initial stress predicted escalated depression over time, showing the potential for long-lasting mental health repercussions. Moreover, the relative importance of parents and friends is tied to the specific adjustment struggles of these youth, with parents offering protection against depression while friends, especially in-person connections, predicted less loneliness over time. Importantly, virtual connections did not offer the same ameliorating effects. The implications of these evolving social support systems remain a concern for youth.

Authors

• Wendy E Ellis, University of Western Ontario
  Presenting Author

• Tara Dumas, University of Western Ontario
  Non-Presenting Author