The acute and persisting impact of COVID-19 on trajectories of adolescent depression: Sex differences and social connectedness.

ABSTRACT:

Background

The COVID-19 era is a time of unprecedented stress, and there is widespread concern regarding its short- and long-term mental health impact. Adolescence is a sensitive period for the emergence of latent psychopathology vulnerabilities, often activated by environmental stressors. The present study examined COVID-19's impact on adolescent depression and possible influences of different domains of social connectedness (loneliness, social media use, social video game time, degree of social activity participation).

Methods

A community sample of 175 adolescents (51% boys, mean age = 16.01 years) completed questionnaires once before and twice during the COVID-19 pandemic. Piecewise growth modeling examined the acute (7 weeks) and persistent (8 months) effects of COVID-19

SUBMITTER: Liu SR 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8605896 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature