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. 2022 May 2;19(9):5532.
doi: 10.3390/ijerph19095532.

Age-Related Differences in Psychological Distress during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Angelo Rega  1   2 , Raffaele Nappo  2 , Roberta Simeoli  1   2 , Mariangela Cerasuolo  3   4   5
Affiliations

Age-Related Differences in Psychological Distress during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Angelo Rega et al. Int J Environ Res Public Health. .

Abstract

While the negative impact of COVID-19 total lockdown on mental health in youth has been extensively studied, findings collected during subsequent waves of the pandemic, in which restrictive rules were more eased, are very sparse. Here, we explore perceived psychological distress during the partial lockdown of the third wave in Southern Italy in a large sample of students, focusing on age and gender differences. Also, we assessed whether attending the type of education could have a protective role on students' psychological well-being. An online survey was completed by 1064 southern Italian students (age range: 8-19 years; males = 368) from March to July 2021. The survey consists of a set of questions regarding general sociodemographic information as well as several aspects of students' psychological well-being. Psychological distress was higher in high school students compared to both elementary and middle ones. In addition, we found gender differences, but only in high school students, with females reporting higher psychological distress than males. Finally, our mediation analysis showed a mediated role of face-to-face schooling in the relationship between age and psychological distress. In conclusion, this study highlights age-related differences in psychological distress during the pandemic and the protective role of school in presence for mental health in Italian students.

Keywords: COVID-19 pandemic; psychological distress; students.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Psychological distress total score among elementary, middle and high school students. Significant between-group comparisons are reported. Data are presented as median. *** p < 0.001.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Gender differences in psychological distress total score among elementary, middle and high students. Significant within-group comparisons are reported. Data are presented as median. *** p < 0.001.
Figure 3
Figure 3
The mediation effects of type of education on the psychological distress. In the arrows are reported the β values about the effect of the age on the type of education (a), the effect of type of education on psychological distress (b), the total effect of the age on the psychological distress (c), and the direct effect of the age on the psychological distress controlling for the mediator. All p values were <0.001.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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