Exploring the Psychological Toll of COVID-19 on Students: An Interview with EUCare Researchers
The COVID-19 pandemic significantly impacted school life and student mental health. We spoke with researchers Giulia Doi, Sara Gandini, and Federica Bellerba from the EUcare project to understand how school closures, distance learning, and other safety measures affected students. Read on to discover their findings and what they suggest for managing future health crises and ensuring a better school experience.
Let’s say you are describing your research within the EUcare project to a 14-year-old student, how would you do it in 5 short sentences?
In the EuCARE school project, we designed two types of studies: an interventional Lolli study to evaluate the emerging saliva-based screening method (Lolli-Methode), and an observational study. Both studies aimed to investigate the spread of SARS-COV-2, the effectiveness of containment measures, and the psychological effects on students.
In order to do this, we administered questionnaires to both students and teachers, as well as parents and non-teaching staff, in order to collect information about emotional and conduct problems, peer relationship issues, hyperactivity, and prosocial behaviour, measured through validated scales for mental health assessment. We also asked how they felt about preventive measures like wearing face masks, social distancing, distant learning (DaD), and the COVID-19 vaccine.
Therefore, through the collected data, we investigated potential associations between the adoption of preventive measures and the increase in psychological disorders among young people.
You have been working on studying the impact of school closure on the transmission of COVID-19. What were the main findings of your study?
Based on the information gathered from the Lolli study, we tried to investigate students’ psychological health during the pandemic. We analysed data from many schools across the globe, specifically in Italy, Portugal and Mexico, in order to evaluate the psychological and learning loss associated with school closure and with other preventive measures, by employing some specific psychological questionnaires.
In general, we discovered that secondary school students had higher total difficulties compared to kindergarten and primary school counterparts. Psychological difficulties decreased in subjects who had a positive social distancing experience and who felt protected from COVID-19 in class; on the other side, they increased in relation to distance learning (DaD), which lasted over 1 month.
Through dataset stratification, we observed that the variables significantly associated with total difficulties differ throughout the nations: in particular, both for Italian and Mexican students, the positive experience with DAD led to lower levels of psychological difficulties; for Portuguese students, instead, the fact that they had negative experiences with COVID-19 contributed to an exacerbation of the difficulties.
Then, we observed that emotional problems rose with age, with high school students showing the highest levels, and with negative experiences with vaccination, while positive experience with social distancing decreased them. The genres differed greatly: in fact, females appeared to have experienced more emotional difficulties than males. This difference did not emerge when only data from Mexico was considered; instead, adherence to the use of masks seemed to lead to higher emotional problems. Negative experiences with vaccination, along with distance learning and negative experiences with COVID-19 were also associated with increased conduct problems; adherence to social distancing, instead, led to a better conduct. Hyperactivity levels varied by school grade and were higher in students from Mexico and Portugal and with negative attitudes towards social distancing. Moreover, hyperactivity problems were more present in males rather than females.
Differently from what we have seen for the other psychological aspects, peer relationship problems were higher in primary school and were associated with prolonged distance learning periods. Those with a history of COVID-19 exposure reported lower peer relationship problems. Specifically, in Italy we observed a difference between males and females: in fact, it turned out that girls suffered more from problems with peers. Regarding Portugal, instead, both hyperactivity and peer relationships problems resulted significantly higher only among primary school students compared to kindergarten pupils.
Lastly, prosocial behaviour decreased with age and it was higher in Italian students. It was the only aspect that improved over time. Additionally, those who felt a higher sense of protection in class from COVID-19, had also a better prosocial behaviour. In general, and especially in Portugal, this acting to the benefit of society turned out to be more intense in girls.
In conclusion, our results highlighted the impact of pandemic-related measures on students’ psychological symptoms across different grades and countries, underlying the importance of addressing students’ mental health. Some preventive measure, especially distance learning and the adherence to social distancing, had a psychological impact on students.
What about the impact on Mental Health on students? We know you carried out a study on the impact of limiting sports activity on adolescents. One of your published paper is titled “The Impact of Sport Activity Shut down during the COVID-19 Pandemic on Children, Adolescents, and Young Adults: Was It Worthwhile?”
Yes, in order to investigate the benefit–risk balance of sport closure during COVID-19 pandemic and to provide a comprehensive picture of the impact of the pandemic on the health of young athletes, we conducted a national retrospective cross-sectional survey of children, adolescents and young adults who used to play sports.
We focused not only on the association of sport activity cessation with the risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection in athletes, in order to understand whether this preventive measure was actually effective in reducing SARS-CoV-2 spread among young athletes and their families, but also on the impact on children’s and adolescents’ physical health, with particular attention to weight gain and compliance with WHO guidelines for physical activity.
Our data demonstrated that sport closures and limitations were ineffective: in fact, when comparing athletes who stopped participating in sport with those who continued their training sessions during the study period, the percentage of responders with a positive SARS-CoV-2 test was similar. Remarkably, we observed an even significantly lower probability of being SARS-CoV-2 positive for subjects practising sports in organized sport centres/societies compared to those not practising sports at all. Furthermore, there was no evidence of an increased risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection in the family, which may have been related to the involvement of young athletes in sport activities.
Regarding preventive measures employed in sport centres, we found that triage and the prohibition on using lockers and showers were the most effective.
Lastly, looking at athletes’ physical health, we discovered that individuals who ceased participating in sports had a significant increase of BMI compared with those who carried on practising sports.
In another paper that we published, titled “Sport activity limitation during the COVID-19 pandemic in young Italian athletes: impact on mental health in children, adolescents, and young adults”, we further investigated the impact of the interruption of sports activities on mental health.
We demonstrated that engaging in physical activity during the period of closures, particularly if more than twice a week, was significantly associated with less psychological difficulties for children/adolescents and psychological symptoms for youth/young adults. Additionally, higher incidence of psychiatric problems was linked to increased screen time.
Therefore, also this study emphasizes the importance of considering the potential risks associated with the restriction of sports activities as a preventive measure and provides additional evidence supporting the positive impact of physical activity on mental health among younger age groups during the COVID-19 pandemic.
If you were to make recommendations for tackling future and similar health emergencies, what would you say we have learned?
The COVID-19 pandemic struck the world in a strong and unexpected manner, leading to the adoption of measures aimed at reducing the virus’s spread. However, due to the novelty of the problem, there have been no in-depth studies on the actual effectiveness of these preventive measures.
In particular, the COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the need for evidence-based solutions for the safe reopening of schools, both in terms of infection control and the psychological health of students – an aspect often overlooked in recent investigations.
From our studies, it has emerged that certain preventive measures, specifically distance learning and the adoption of social distancing, which also affected sports activities, have not significantly impacted virus transmission. On the contrary, they have negatively affected the psychological stability of students, leading to emotional and conduct problems, as well as relationship issues and less prosocial behaviour.
Therefore, in the context of future and similar health emergencies, we recommend carefully calibrating decisions by conducting an accurate analysis of the risk-benefit ratio associated with implementing specific preventive measures, while considering the possibility of avoiding school closures.
