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Adolescent Experiences of the COVID-19 Pandemic and School Closures and Implications for Mental Health, Peer Relationships and Learning: A Qualitative Study in South-West England

The COVID-19 ‘lockdown’ and multiple school closures disrupted the daily lives and routines of the entire UK population. However, adolescents were likely particularly impacted by such measures due to this time being key for social and educational development. This qualitative study explored young pe...

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Autores principales: Widnall, Emily, Adams, Emma A., Plackett, Ruth, Winstone, Lizzy, Haworth, Claire M. A., Mars, Becky, Kidger, Judi
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2022
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9222495/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35742408
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19127163
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author Widnall, Emily
Adams, Emma A.
Plackett, Ruth
Winstone, Lizzy
Haworth, Claire M. A.
Mars, Becky
Kidger, Judi
author_facet Widnall, Emily
Adams, Emma A.
Plackett, Ruth
Winstone, Lizzy
Haworth, Claire M. A.
Mars, Becky
Kidger, Judi
author_sort Widnall, Emily
collection PubMed
description The COVID-19 ‘lockdown’ and multiple school closures disrupted the daily lives and routines of the entire UK population. However, adolescents were likely particularly impacted by such measures due to this time being key for social and educational development. This qualitative study explored young people’s experiences of lockdowns and school closures. Fifteen secondary schools within south-west England were initially contacted and three schools participated in recruitment efforts. From December 2020 to March 2021, 25 students aged 14–15 participated in a combination of individual interviews (n = 5) and focus groups (n = 3). Findings revealed diverse experiences of the pandemic and highlighted the complexity of experiences according to individual student contexts. Three main themes were identified: (1) Learning environments; (2) Connection to peers; (3) Transition, adaptation and coping. These findings highlight the value young people place on face-to-face social contact with close friends, and the sense of structure provided by school, with implications for future home-based learning. Further in-depth qualitative research is needed to continue to understand the varied experiences during the course of the pandemic, particularly longer-term impacts on mental health and learning.
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spelling pubmed-92224952022-06-24 Adolescent Experiences of the COVID-19 Pandemic and School Closures and Implications for Mental Health, Peer Relationships and Learning: A Qualitative Study in South-West England Widnall, Emily Adams, Emma A. Plackett, Ruth Winstone, Lizzy Haworth, Claire M. A. Mars, Becky Kidger, Judi Int J Environ Res Public Health Article The COVID-19 ‘lockdown’ and multiple school closures disrupted the daily lives and routines of the entire UK population. However, adolescents were likely particularly impacted by such measures due to this time being key for social and educational development. This qualitative study explored young people’s experiences of lockdowns and school closures. Fifteen secondary schools within south-west England were initially contacted and three schools participated in recruitment efforts. From December 2020 to March 2021, 25 students aged 14–15 participated in a combination of individual interviews (n = 5) and focus groups (n = 3). Findings revealed diverse experiences of the pandemic and highlighted the complexity of experiences according to individual student contexts. Three main themes were identified: (1) Learning environments; (2) Connection to peers; (3) Transition, adaptation and coping. These findings highlight the value young people place on face-to-face social contact with close friends, and the sense of structure provided by school, with implications for future home-based learning. Further in-depth qualitative research is needed to continue to understand the varied experiences during the course of the pandemic, particularly longer-term impacts on mental health and learning. MDPI 2022-06-10 /pmc/articles/PMC9222495/ /pubmed/35742408 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19127163 Text en © 2022 by the authors. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
spellingShingle Article
Widnall, Emily
Adams, Emma A.
Plackett, Ruth
Winstone, Lizzy
Haworth, Claire M. A.
Mars, Becky
Kidger, Judi
Adolescent Experiences of the COVID-19 Pandemic and School Closures and Implications for Mental Health, Peer Relationships and Learning: A Qualitative Study in South-West England
title Adolescent Experiences of the COVID-19 Pandemic and School Closures and Implications for Mental Health, Peer Relationships and Learning: A Qualitative Study in South-West England
title_full Adolescent Experiences of the COVID-19 Pandemic and School Closures and Implications for Mental Health, Peer Relationships and Learning: A Qualitative Study in South-West England
title_fullStr Adolescent Experiences of the COVID-19 Pandemic and School Closures and Implications for Mental Health, Peer Relationships and Learning: A Qualitative Study in South-West England
title_full_unstemmed Adolescent Experiences of the COVID-19 Pandemic and School Closures and Implications for Mental Health, Peer Relationships and Learning: A Qualitative Study in South-West England
title_short Adolescent Experiences of the COVID-19 Pandemic and School Closures and Implications for Mental Health, Peer Relationships and Learning: A Qualitative Study in South-West England
title_sort adolescent experiences of the covid-19 pandemic and school closures and implications for mental health, peer relationships and learning: a qualitative study in south-west england
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9222495/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35742408
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19127163
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