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. 2021 May 20:12:643443.
doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.643443. eCollection 2021.

Stress-Related Growth in Adolescents Returning to School After COVID-19 School Closure

Lea Waters  1 , Kelly-Ann Allen  1   2 , Gökmen Arslan  3   4
Affiliations

Stress-Related Growth in Adolescents Returning to School After COVID-19 School Closure

Lea Waters et al. Front Psychol. .

Abstract

The move to remote learning during COVID-19 has impacted billions of students. While research shows that school closure, and the pandemic more generally, has led to student distress, the possibility that these disruptions can also prompt growth in is a worthwhile question to investigate. The current study examined stress-related growth (SRG) in a sample of students returning to campus after a period of COVID-19 remote learning (n = 404, age = 13-18). The degree to which well-being skills were taught at school (i.e., positive education) before the COVID-19 outbreak and student levels of SRG upon returning to campus was tested via structural equation modeling. Positive reappraisal, emotional processing, and strengths use in students were examined as mediators. The model provided a good fit [χ 2 = 5.37, df = 3, p = 0.146, RMSEA = 0.044 (90% CI = 0.00-0.10), SRMR = 0.012, CFI = 99, TLI = 0.99] with 56% of the variance in SRG explained. Positive education explained 15% of the variance in cognitive reappraisal, 7% in emotional processing, and 16% in student strengths use during remote learning. The results are discussed using a positive education paradigm with implications for teaching well-being skills at school to foster growth through adversity and assist in times of crisis.

Keywords: COVID-19; adolescents; positive education; posttraumatic growth; strengths.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Structural equation model indicating the relationship between the variables of the study. **p < 0.001.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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