What you need to know
Students across Canada have faced many stressors throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. This includes health risks and concerns related to the virus, the psychological impact of school closures and shifting to virtual learning, and worries around returning to school in person. This paper shares the results from the first wave of a one-year study that looked at the well-being of students 12 to 18-years-old in Alberta, during the first few weeks after returning to school in the fall of 2020. The preliminary findings suggest that overall, youth were doing well six months into the pandemic, and that differences in mental health may reflect pre-existing issues. The authors recommend a need for age- and gender-targeted COVID-19 public health messaging in Canada.
This Research Snapshot is based on the article, “COVID-19 and student well-being: Stress and mental health during return-to-school,” which was published in Canadian Journal of School Psychology in 2021. https://doi.org/10.1177/08295735211001653
Research Snapshots are brief, clear language summaries of research articles, presented in a user-friendly format.