Lessons for the Summer from COVID Lockdowns
Mental health concerns among teens have been rising for many years. Then, as most of us know, rates of mental health concerns skyrocketed during the COVID-19 pandemic onset. This does not feel too surprising. Day to day life for adolescents significantly changed all at once- school, live social interactions, family life, activities, and recreation.
Transitioning from the school year to the summer can also feel like an abrupt change. All of a sudden, children, teens, and college students’ daily routines and interactions are totally different.
Both had their positives, too. Some teens felt more relaxed and better slept with online schooling. Some families bonded more during this difficult time. Surely, many experience the summer also as a positive experience.
It can feel confusing- with so many changes occurring all at once, it can seem too complex to figure out what factors most affect mental health. But if we could disentangle these interrelationships, perhaps we can help our teens and ourselves feel better and develop more resilience during the summer, and any future major changes that may come their way.
What Research Can Teach Us about the Effects of the COVID-19 Lockdowns on Teen Girls
A group of researchers (Silk et al., 2022) published a unique study in the Journal of Pediatric Psychology. In this article, they describe how they used a method called “daily diaries” to better understand the actual lived experiences of teens during the COVID-19 lockdowns. This can help researchers gain more insight than regular questionnaires that are done all at once.
Specifically, they looked at the data from a group of 93 girls enrolled in a longitudinal study examining emotional health. They specifically excluded those who already met criteria for current or past diagnoses of anxiety, depressive, psychotic, or autism spectrum disorders before the beginning of the study.
Every evening, they rated their overall mood, positive emotions, negative emotions, depressive symptoms, and anxious symptoms. They also recorded their activities, negative impacts of the COVID-19 outbreak on their lives that day, and positive impacts of social distancing on their lives that day.
Using statistical models, the researchers were able to find some interesting patterns.
Unsurprisingly, overall rates of anxiety and depression increased from the pre-pandemic levels in the study
The most common activities (over 60%) during lockdown reported by girls included: screen-based entertainment, using social media, text messaging, spending time with family, and listening to music.
Less common activities (under 40%) included creative hobbies, reading or writing, household chores, and cooking. They spent 30 minutes to 2 hours per day in online classes or homework.
Health habits: they were getting on average 15-30 minutes of exercise per day, and 8.73 hours of sleep.
Negative mental health (more anxious and depressive symptoms, more negative affect and less positive affect) was worse on days that girls:
Experienced more family conflict
Had more problems with school
Had an irregular schedule
Had a lack of privacy or space
More responsibility at home
Lack of access to things they needed
Were unable to see their friends
Positive mental health (less anxious and depressive symptoms, more positive affect and less negative affect) was better on days that girls:
Spent more time with family
Had time to relax
Felt less stress or pressure from school or activities
Got more exercise
Went outside
Lessons for Resilience for Summer and Major Changes:
We surely wouldn’t wish anyone to learn the lessons the way we all did - the very hard way through the COVID-19 pandemic. Perhaps a small silver lining is that we can learn about what worked and what didn’t, to better help our teens, families, and ourselves develop resilience for life’s inevitable hard knocks and changes.
Don’t underestimate the effects of changing routines and access to peers! Instead, prepare for major changes when you can predict them. If you notice a change happening already, take stock and see what you can do to get on a better course.
Work on reducing
Family conflict
Pressure from school and activities
Add more:
Family time balanced with privacy
Time for relaxing and unwinding
Regular sleep schedules
Getting outside
Exercise and physical activity
Live peer interactions
If your teen is struggling with anxiety or depression, or stress from school or life, or if you’re not sure how to find the right balance over the summer or during another life transition, please do not hesitate to reach out for support. You can click the Get Started button (at the top right of your screen) for a free consultation call with Dr. Emily Foxen-Craft, to learn about resources and ideas for resilience and coping for life.
Reference:
Silk, J. S., Scott, L. N., Hutchinson, E. A., Lu, C., Sequeira, S. L., McKone, K. M., ... & Ladouceur, C. D. (2022). Storm clouds and silver linings: Day-to-day life in COVID-19 lockdown and emotional health in adolescent girls. Journal of pediatric psychology, 47(1), 37-48.