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. 2022 Nov;31(11):1847-1849.
doi: 10.1007/s00787-021-01826-2. Epub 2021 Jun 16.

Stress levels in high-school students after a semester of home-schooling

Christoph Pieh  1 , Rachel Dale  2 , Paul L Plener  3   4 , Elke Humer  2 , Thomas Probst  2
Affiliations

Stress levels in high-school students after a semester of home-schooling

Christoph Pieh et al. Eur Child Adolesc Psychiatry. 2022 Nov.

Abstract

There has been an increase in stress in adolescents since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. Social distancing and home-schooling are just two of many stress factors for this age group. The aim of this study was to assess stress in high-school students after a semester of home-schooling. A cross-sectional online survey (February 3rd to 28th 2021) was performed, measuring stress with the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS-10) in Austria. In total, N = 2884 students (age: M = 16.47 (SD = 1.44); 70.4% females) completed the survey. Mean PSS-10 score was M = 23.50 (SD = 7.47) [females: M = 24.69 (SD = 6.80); males: M = 20.11 (SD = 7.93); p < 0.001]. 11.0% reported low stress (females: 7.2%; males 20.9%), 52.5% moderate stress (females: 51.5%; males: 57.3%), and 36.5% high stress (females: 41.3%; males 21.8%); p < 0.001. Around one-third of high-school students suffer from high stress level, females almost twice as often as males. Psychological support should particularly focus on stress and possibilities to reduce it.

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Conflict of interest statement

None.

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