In the early stages of the global COVID-19 pandemic, the Ontario government put a number of measures in place to prevent the spread of the virus, which included closing schools and encouraging physical distancing. The impact of these measures on the mental health of those in adolescence, a critical developmental stage, was worrisome yet unknown.
For this reason, researchers at Western University set out to explore teens’ stress related to COVID-19 and its relationship to their daily behaviours and other indicators of psychological distress.
Among their findings, they discovered that:
- time spent on social media was associated with higher levels of psychological distress, and
- time with family may serve as a buffer against depression and loneliness in the context of COVID-19
To learn more, check out the full EENet research snapshot here.
(*coming soon in French!)