Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2024 Feb 9:12:1327999.
doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2024.1327999. eCollection 2024.

School students' burdens and resources after 2 years of COVID-19 in Austria: a qualitative study using content analysis

Marlies Sobotka #  1 , Thomas Kern #  1 , Katja Haider  1 , Rachel Dale  1 , Veronika Wöhrer  2 , Christoph Pieh  1 , Thomas Probst  3 , Elke Humer  1   4 , Andrea Jesser  1   4
Affiliations

School students' burdens and resources after 2 years of COVID-19 in Austria: a qualitative study using content analysis

Marlies Sobotka et al. Front Public Health. .

Abstract

Introduction: The mental health of young people has been severely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and the measures associated with it. Mental health symptoms increased across various domains during the pandemic and subjective wellbeing decreased.

Methods: This study examined the burdens and resources of Austrian school students (M = 16.63 years old) in the third year of the pandemic and compared them descriptively with the burdens and resources identified in a comparative study in 2021. A cross-sectional online survey with open-ended questions from April to May 2022 provided data that was analyzed using qualitative content analysis. A sub-sample of N = 214 was selected from the larger sample. This sub-sample is representative for the Austrian population aged 15-19 in terms of gender and migrant background.

Results: Analysis of the open-ended questions showed that concerns about the pandemic and the burdens of the measures were no longer on young people's minds at the time of the survey in 2022. On the other hand, stress at school was increasing and the opening of schools and the resumption of face-to-face teaching were challenging for respondents. While resuming social contacts and leisure activities was mentioned as a resource by many respondents, some also expressed a desire for more time off and a retreat into coping strategies such as sleeping more or avoiding problems.

Discussion: Our findings suggest that there is a need for low-threshold support from teachers and parents to help students catch up on missed lessons and to empathize with the mas they make the transition back to "old normal".

Keywords: COVID-19; adolescents; burdens; mental health; qualitative content analysis; resources; school students.

PubMed Disclaimer

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
Comparison of the survey results from February 2021 and April to May 2022 regarding the question: “What currently gives you the most cause for concern?”
Figure 2
Figure 2
Comparison of the survey results from February 2021 and April to May 2022 regarding the question: “What currently gives you the most cause for support?”
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Hurrelmann K, Quenzel G. Lebensphase Jugend: Eine Einführung in die sozialwissenschaftliche Jugendforschung. Weinheim: Juventa Verlag ein Imprint der Julius Beltz GmbH & Company KG; (2022). p. 270.
    1. Liu SR, Davis EP, Palma AM, Sandman CA, Glynn LM. The acute and persisting impact of COVID-19 on trajectories of adolescent depression: Sex differences and social connectedness. J Affect Disord. (2022) 299:246–55. 10.1016/j.jad.2021.11.030 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Ravens-Sieberer U, Kaman A, Erhart M, Devine J, Schlack R, Otto C. Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on quality of life and mental health in children and adolescents in Germany. Eur Child Adolesc Psychiatry. (2022) 31:879–89. 10.1007/s00787-021-01726-5 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Panchal U, Salazar de Pablo G, Franco M, Moreno C, Parellada M, Arango C, Fusar-Poli P. The impact of COVID-19 lockdown on child and adolescent mental health: systematic review. Eur Child Adolesc Psychiatry. (2023) 32:1151–77. 10.1007/s00787-021-01856-w - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Bera L, Souchon M, Ladsous A, Colin V, Lopez-Castroman J. Emotional and behavioral impact of the COVID-19 epidemic in adolescents. Curr Psychiatry Rep. (2022) 24:37–46. 10.1007/s11920-022-01313-8 - DOI - PMC - PubMed

Publication types