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. 2022 Aug 11;17(8):e0272925.
doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0272925. eCollection 2022.

Determinants of adolescents' Health-Related Quality of Life and psychological distress during the COVID-19 pandemic

Roxane Dumont  1 , Viviane Richard  1 , Hélène Baysson  1   2 , Elsa Lorthe  1 , Giovanni Piumatti  3   4 , Stephanie Schrempft  1 , Ania Wisniak  1   5 , Rémy P Barbe  6 , Klara M Posfay-Barbe  7 , Idris Guessous  2   8 , Silvia Stringhini  1   2   9 ; Specchio-COVID19 study group
Affiliations

Determinants of adolescents' Health-Related Quality of Life and psychological distress during the COVID-19 pandemic

Roxane Dumont et al. PLoS One. .

Abstract

Background: We examined the determinants of adolescents' Health-Related Quality of Life (HRQoL) and psychological distress (self-reported and parent-reported) during the COVID-19 pandemic, using a random sample of the population of Geneva, Switzerland.

Methods: Data was drawn from participants aged 14-17 years, who participated with their families to a serosurvey conducted in November and December 2020. Adolescents' HRQoL was evaluated using the validated adolescent-reported KIDSCREEN-10 and parent-reported KINDL® scales. Psychological distress was assessed with self-reported sadness and loneliness, and using the KINDL® emotional well-being scale. Using generalized estimating equations, we examined the role of socio-demographic, family and behavioural characteristics in influencing adolescents' mental health status and wellbeing.

Results: Among 240 adolescents, 11% had a low HRQoL, 35% reported sadness and 23% reported loneliness. Based on parents' perception, 12% of the adolescents had a low HRQoL and 16% a low emotional well-being. Being a girl (aOR = 3.20; 95%CI: 1.67-6.16), increased time on social media (aOR = 2.07; 95%CI: 1.08-3.97), parents' average to poor mood (aOR = 2.62; 95%CI: 1.10-6.23) and average to poor household financial situation (aOR = 2.31; IC95%: 1.01-6.10) were associated with an increased risk of sadness. Mismatches between adolescents' and their parents' perception of HRQoL were more likely for girls (aOR = 2.88; 95%CI: 1.54-5.41) and in households with lower family well-being (aOR = 0.91; 95%CI: 0.86-0.96).

Conclusions: A meaningful proportion of adolescents experienced low well-being during the second wave of COVID-19, and average well-being was lower than pre-pandemic estimates. Adolescents living in underprivileged or distressed families seemed particularly affected. Monitoring is necessary to evaluate the long-term effects of the pandemic on adolescents.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors have declare that they have no competing interests.

Figures

Fig 1
Fig 1. Study flow diagram.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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