Secondary school pupils in the UK experienced significantly higher rates of depression, social, emotional and behavioural difficulties, and overall worse mental wellbeing during the Covid pandemic, research shows.
Cases of depression among secondary school pupils aged 11 to 13 rose by 8.5% during the pandemic compared with a 0.3% increase for the same cohort prior to Covid, according to a comparative study by researchers at the University of Oxford’s psychiatry department.
The researchers found that girls’ mental health deteriorated more than that of boys during the pandemic. Girls were also more likely to find the return to full-time schooling difficult.
The students who were most resilient during the pandemic were those with plenty of social interaction and support, including a supportive school environment, good relationships at home and a friend to turn to for support during lockdowns. Even partial school attendance during lockdown put students in a better place to adjust to returning to school full-time than no attendance at all, the study found.
Willem Kuyken, the study’s lead and professor of mindfulness and psychological science at Oxford’s department of psychiatry, said: “This study shows that to promote better mental health and adjustment among young people, we need policies that foster home connectedness, friendship and a positive school climate and consider young people’s individual differences, needs and vulnerabilities. Also we can see that full school closures should be avoided to protect the adjustment of young people.”
Kuyken said more research was required “to understand both what places young people at risk and what protects them under challenging circumstances”.
The study showed that cases of significant social, emotional and behavioural difficulties increased by 7.9% for teenagers during the pandemic, compared with 3.5% for those before, while general poor mental health increased by 12.8%, compared with 4.5% before.
