Impact of COVID-19 school learning model on mental health, suicidal thoughts and behaviors, substance use, and violence related behaviors and experiences among U.S. high school students.

ABSTRACT: The COVID-19 pandemic and associated prevention measures reshaped students' lives. We estimated the effects of virtual learning during the pandemic on adolescents' mental health, suicidal thoughts and behaviors, substance use, and violence-related experiences and behaviors. Using Youth Risk Behavior Survey data from 25 local jurisdictions, we compared overall and relative changes from 2019 (n = 49,740) to 2021 (n = 42,995) between jurisdictions where high school students predominantly attended school virtually vs. in-person during the 2020-2021 school year with Rao-Scott chi-square tests and difference-in-differences logistic regression. P-values<0.050 were considered significant. From 2019 to 2021, reported persistent feelings of sadness/hopelessness (2019 = 36.3%, 2021 = 41.3%), seriousl

SUBMITTER: Katz DA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12724680 | biostudies-literature | 2025

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature