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In these difficult times, we've made a number of our coronavirus articles free for all readers. To get all of HBR's content delivered to your inbox, sign up for the Daily Alert newsletter.

Pre-quarantine, you likely thought that you spent almost all of your workday at the computer. But little did you know that you could spend so much more. Between commutes, formal meetings, drive-by chats, watercooler talks, coffee breaks, and lunches, you had many opportunities throughout your day where your eyes would have a break from your screen and detach from the digital realm.

Now with those natural respites eliminated, there's little to no break from the connection to technology. In particular, video calls add an extra layer of fatigue. Having to focus on multiple faces simultaneously while also being conscious that everyone can see you creates an added layer of mental and emotional exhaustion that wouldn't be experienced as acutely in an in-person setting. The extra time in front of the computer can also cause eye strain and muscle fatigue because you need to hold your body rigid for hours to stay inside a camera's range.

To help my time management coaching clients maintain and regain energy, we've been working on ways that they can reduce or eliminate technology throughout their day. Here are a few strategies that have been most effective.
Don't default to Zoom
Zoom and other video chat apps are wonderful tools when you are trying to get as close as possible to replicating in-person interactions. But the level of intensity video calling offers isn't necessary for many communications. If a phone call would work fine for a conversation, use that. If you can efficiently communicate what you need via email or through updating a shared document or task management system, do that. Just because you can use video, doesn't mean you should.
Limit your meeting time
In normal circumstances, setting aside blocks of time to get work done is a good idea. But if you find virtual meetings draining, this practice is even more essential for you right now. Block out time on your schedule where you're not available for meetings so that you can temper how much virtual communication you have each day. That could look like setting aside most of a morning or afternoon as a meeting-free time or blocking out a few one-hour chunks of time throughout the day to detach and focus on other work.
Choose physical over digital
To counteract the increased time in front of a screen both on and off the clock, look for ways that you can take the low-tech route. Brainstorming for an article? Write out your thoughts on paper. Creating a road map for a big project? Sketch the initial draft on a white board. Reading a book? Pick up a print copy. Exercising? Go outside on a run. Anytime you can reasonably choose a physical option over a digital one, take it. I find that stepping away from my computer not only offers a digital break, but also in my experience helps me to be more creative.
Move as much as possible
To counteract the fatigue caused by sitting rigidly in front of your computer, move around as much as you can. In between meetings, take a walk to the kitchen to refill your water or coffee. When you need a quick break, do a few simple movements like rolling your shoulders to get the blood flowing. If you have a standing desk, move it up and down so you're able to both sit and stand throughout the day. If you don't have a standing desk, put your computer on a high counter or bureau to get an opportunity to stretch your legs. And if you're on a normal phone call and don't need to be taking notes or looking at documents while you talk, consider standing up or even walking back and forth during the conversation.
Take tech-free breaks
Although it may feel more "efficient" to eat lunch at your computer, your brain will thank you for taking a break from the screen. Eat lunch while chatting with your family members in the kitchen, looking out a window, or reading a physical book. Stepping away from technology not only gives your brain a break but also gives you the added bonus of perspective. I find that even when I take a short lunch of 15 to 20 minutes where I simply eat without doing anything else, I feel more peaceful at the end than I did before. I also find that I tend to have a clearer sense of the big picture of what's occurring in my life and work.

Another practice that's benefiting myself as well as many of my time management coaching clients is post-work outdoor physical activity. This includes taking a walk, playing basketball in a driveway, gardening, or anything else that gets you active. This split from the digital world refreshes your brain and helps to create some separation from the end of your work day and the beginning of your personal time.

When it's possible to go back to more in-person communications, it will be a wonderful relief. But in the immediate term, some of the added digital load is unavoidable. These strategies can help you counter that load and reduce digital fatigue.

If our content helps you to contend with coronavirus and other challenges, please consider subscribing to HBR. A subscription purchase is the best way to support the creation of these resources.

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5 Tips to Reduce Screen Time While You're WFH

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In these difficult times, we've made a number of our coronavirus articles free for all readers. To get all of HBR's content delivered to your inbox, sign up for the Daily Alert newsletter. Pre-quarantine, you likely thought that you spent almost all of your workday at the computer.

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Although there is no fixed time between breaks or length of breaks stated in the Health and Safety (Display Screen Equipment) Regulations 1992, the regulations do suggest that breaks should be 'periodically' taken. The regulations suggest that each person's work should be designed to include a mix of tasks, some screen based and some non-screen based, to allow natural breaks from concentrating on the screen, sitting in the same position or repetitive input work, for example.

Sometimes, due to the nature of your work, this is not possible, and in this case, deliberate breaks must be introduced.

We suggest as a minimum guideline at least 5 minutes in every hour should be spent away from the screen, but it's also important to make sure you change posture regularly, refocus eyes; and doing some simple stretching exercises at your desk can be very useful too. For your eyes, try the 20-20-20 rule - every 20 minutes, look up from your screen at something about 20 feet away for about 20 seconds. This gives the muscles in your eyes a chance to relax.

The HSE suggest that short, frequent breaks are better than less frequent longer breaks, so a 5-10 minute break after 50-60 minutes is better than a 20 minute break every 3 hours. So take this time to stand up, move around, shake your arms and legs, or just change positions will help avoid aches and pains and keep your mind focussed and body energised.

The relevant regulation is...
Health and Safety (Display Screen Equipment) Regulations 1992, daily work routine of users:
Can DSE work cause any permanent damage?

Both yes and no. DSE work can't cause any long-term or permanent damage to your eyesight, but it can lead to Musculoskeletal Disorders or MSDs.

Always check your posture and take regular breaks away from your desk to help avoid this outcome.

Whilst DSE work can't cause permanent eye damage, that doesn't mean you can't suffer as a result of it. Long spells of DSE work can cause:

Tired eyes

Discomfort

Temporary Short Sightedness, and

Headaches

DSE work can also make you aware of underlying eyesight problems you'd not noticed before. Making sure your screens are properly set up and taking regular short breaks are the best way to avoid experiencing any of the negative effects of DSE use.

Online DSE Training

Here at iHASCO, we offer an IOSH Approved Online DSE Training course that teaches employees how to properly set up their workstation, how to look after their eyes, how many breaks they should take from their screens, and how to properly use portable equipment.
Anyone who regularly uses a computer legally requires DSE Training.
You can claim a no-obligation free trial to our course today!

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How often should I take a break from my computer? | iHASCO

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Although there is no fixed time between breaks or length of breaks stated in the Health and Safety ( Display Screen Equipment ) Regulations 1992 , the regulations do suggest that breaks should be 'periodically' taken.

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1. You get a mandatory break after every 2.5 hours or the hours as per the age group and screen time.

2. Even if you are not able to complete the tasks, you get a break.

3. If you complete the work before you get extra hours of break

4. Your screen time is reduced

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Developing better Blue Light Protection technology

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Balance in between both screen time and outdoor activities

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Identity a leverage point for intervention

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Identity a leverage point for intervention

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There isn't any proper information about work, the person doesn't know about how many hours would he sit in front of the screen, or when would he get a break.
There isn't any specific time for anything, there isn't any work life balance and it's affecting his vision in a longer trem.

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Here the app would also be a collaboration with the school, the working hours would be fed in the to do list of the kid by the teacher or working staff and they can put in the break hours of 1 hour, with the same working.

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1. Meditate
2. Do your own thing. DYOT

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Background Music
According to the time of the day

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"Time to take a break, Amigooo!!"

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For college kids, it would be a free app to install, where they can feed in the task they have to do, work hours and after every 1.5-2 hours they will get a break, with the same message popping up as stated above.

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Here the app would be a collaboration with the company where that particular person is working.
The app would have the tasks for the day and after every 2.5 hours i.e. completion of tasks, there would be the pop-up screen/ break screen, appreciating him for the work done and also allowing him to move away from the screen.
If the person is not able to complete the task, there would be a pop-up saying that he should take a breather and then work on his tasks ahead.
They would get maximum of 4 breaks a day, also depending upon their screen time working hours.

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General Audience:
Kids
Company employees

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Kids

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Working adults/ College Students

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Without the app

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Our Solution Proposal is to develop an app- which is to give a person some time off from the screen, while working where his screen would kind of freezze after he has worked for some hours (depending on the age of the person) with some soothing music playing in the background while the person is asked to meditate or get up from his seat and stretch.
This all is done to increase the productivity of the person and to reduce the irritation that is developed due to long working hours.

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The COVID-19 pandemic has created the largest disruption of education systems in human history, affecting nearly 1.6 billion learners in more than 200 countries. Closures of schools, institutions and other learning spaces have impacted more than 94% of the world’s student population. This has brought far-reaching changes in all aspects of our lives. Social distancing and restrictive movement policies have significantly disturbed traditional educational practices. Reopening of schools after relaxation of restriction is another challenge with many new standard operating procedures put in place.

Within a short span of the COVID-19 pandemic, many researchers have shared their works on teaching and learning in different ways. Several schools, colleges and universities have discontinued face-to-face teachings. There is a fear of losing 2020 academic year or even more in the coming future. The need of the hour is to innovate and implement alternative educational system and assessment strategies. The COVID-19 pandemic has provided us with an opportunity to pave the way for introducing digital learning. This article aims to provide a comprehensive report on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on online teaching and learning of various papers and indicate the way forward.

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From closing down productions/operations to a drop in consumer confidence, COVID-19 continues to impact businesses and the way they operate. However, our executive survey shows that many leaders are predicting that an economic crisis will be the aftermath.

77% of respondents believe that an economic downturn is an inevitable outcome due to government restrictions and the continued threat of health to consumers, especially in major urban areas.

Countries such as Italy, China, and India are expected to take the greatest personal financial impact as people continue to observe social distancing measures and observe travel bans.

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1. Research shows that social media and video games provide temporary escape from real life and offer valuable social engagement. During COVID-19, many media outlets have chronicled their utility. Digital game distributors, such as Steam report a considerable increase in the number of daily users over the past weeks: from 19 million in early March to a record high of 23.5 million in early April. Especially popular are social simulation games like the Animal Crossing series or Minecraft, which allow players to build their own worlds alone or together with friends.

2. UNICEF’s recent report — Growing up in a connected world — states that while a small group of children will inevitably encounter adverse experiences when they use digital technology, this is not directly related to the time they spend online. Rather, when considering such experiences, more attention should be paid to what children do online, the content they encounter, and their life environment and support networks in general. Not too much, not too little, but just the right amount of screen time seems to be optimal for children.

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1. School closure during the first stage of the pandemic brought the widespread adoption of online learning, a sudden change for which no one — teachers, students or parents — was prepared.

2. Immediate and long-term consequences
As routine ophthalmology practices gradually restarted and parents brought in their children for appointments, many new complaints emerged regarding screen-related eye symptoms. Computer use affects blink rate, which in turn leads to symptomatic dry eye.

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1. Increased screen time has led to more mental health and stress problems thus resulting in lack of better sleep. Screen-time has also been blamed for physical inactivity — a leading risk factor for global mortality which also contributes to childhood obesity.

2. Staying in touch with friends is important: During extraordinary times with a high degree of uncertainty and irregularity, it is vital for children to play and communicate with friends. Video games and social media can offer meaningful experiences during a pandemic: connectedness in a time where social interaction is reduced; entertainment when options are limited; and a tool to help take the edge off of anxiety and fear.

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Binge gaming is on the rise with the average gamer playing video games consecutively for five hours and six minutes, which is a 13 per cent increase from last year.

Young gamers between 18 and 25 have binge-gamed for the longest at an average of nearly six hours. In India, gamers who spend anywhere between 5 to 15 hours in binge gaming account for 54 per cent of gamers.

Pandemic gives boost to the nascent Indian gaming industry

56 per cent of global gamers further said that they’ve started to watch others play video games in the past year. The average gamer spends two hours and 48 minutes each week watching others play video games online. Gamers in India spent the most time of any country surveyed, clocking five hours and 24 minutes each week.

Apart from this, playing video games is also the top entertainment choice for many. Three in five (62 per cent) of gamers said that they prefer to play video games versus watching a movie or a TV show.

In India, over 75 per cent showed a preference for playing games over watching or streaming shows and movies on TV or OTT platforms.

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In a nutshell, hustle culture (as the name also implies) means constant working. It means devoting as much of your day as possible working — hustling. There is no time out or time in at work. Work is done in the office, outside the office, at home, at coffee shops — anywhere. And in a world constantly on the go and equipped with the tools to achieve that, working constantly on the go is very possible.

And it’s a mindset, a philosophy and a life embraced by many, both by individuals and even companies. When you talk of hustle culture, the more you work, the more celebrated you are. Never mind that you miss meals, sleep, and other important events. In hustle culture, taking a break is for the weak. Your brain becomes trained to always be active and always churning out idea after idea after idea.

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A mindful approach to helping your team through the current global crisis

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A mindful approach to helping your team through the current global crisis

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As the number of COVID-19 cases continues to rise across the globe, stress and anxiety around the virus have risen right alongside them. Companies around the world are now implementing precautionary and emergency measures to help “flatten the curve,” meaning slow the rate by which this illness spreads, reduce incidence of cases in their populations, and support efforts to protect public health. Because most working professionals spend a third of their time at work, employers are uniquely suited to support their team’s mental well-being during this uncertain time.

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Aditi Gupta
Dhanur Dravid Singh
Mahi Agarwal

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Screen time has increased for them also as now to pass their time, communicate or watch something, they have moved to ott platforms

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The Pew Research Center has just released a study finding that Americans 60 and older are spending more time in front of their screens than a decade ago. Screen time is up 27 percent.

At first I thought this was totally unsurprising; way more older people are using computers than 10 years ago, when smartphones were just introduced and tablets didn't exist.

Indeed, Pew corroborates this, noting that "in 2000, 14% of those ages 65 and older were internet users; now 73% are. And while smartphone ownership was uncommon at all ages around the turn of the 21st century, now about half (53%) of people 65 and older are smartphone owners." So it seemed to me to be logical that screen time would be up 27 percent, if you were starting from such a small base.

However when you dig into the data, you find that "screen time" isn't just computer time, it also includes TV, videos and movies. Older people watch a LOT of TV; my mother-in-law had it on from morning to night. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, people over 65 watch an average of four hours and 14 minutes per day of television, more than any other age group. So the new screen time really is in addition to what they were already doing. It's more time spent in front of more kinds of screens.

It's also at the expense of other activities that people used to do, including reading, socializing (which includes parties, entertainment events, spending time with others.) Exercise - which is so critically important as you get older - is up all of 2 percent.

It's hard to tell exactly what's going on; I wish the data were more granular so you could see screen time broken down in detail. Reading is down 13 percent, but if I'm reading a book with my Kindle app on my iPad, is that reading time or screen time? It's not clear.

The negative effects of too much TV

One thing that is clear is the correlation between watching television and cognitive decline. According to one study, "watching television for more than 3.5 hours per day is associated with a dose-response decline in verbal memory." That study doesn't address the question of other screen time.

However, another study addresses the question of physical decline, and here the situation is going to be the same, whatever kind of screen you are watching.

Participants who watched TV for 5 or more hours every day were 65 percent more likely to have a walking disability 10 years down the line, compared with their counterparts who watched TV for less than 2 hours every day.

Dr. Loretta DiPietro, one of the study authors, tells Medical News Today:

TV viewing is a very potent risk factor for disability in older age ... Sitting and watching TV for long periods (especially in the evening) has got to be one of the most dangerous things that older people can do because they are much more susceptible to the damages of physical inactivity.

So older people are spending way more time sitting down and looking at screens, and far less time getting together with friends, having parties or being social, all of which require a bit of walking and moving around.

In a recent MNN article, Angela Nelson listed many of the effects that too much screen time has on kids. "From toddlers to teens, glowing screens can harm their bodies and minds." Problems for kids include obsessive behavior, negative influences and obesity. "The problem isn't just screens themselves, but also the way screens lure kids (and adults) away from something far more important: physical activity." Nelson continues:

And another 2015 study showed that in people of all ages, including teens, heavy internet and phone users are more likely to lose concentration, forget information, have poor spatial awareness and make mistakes - even at times when they're not connected to the internet or using their phones. These "cognitive failures," as the study's author calls them, may include missing appointments, failing to notice signs on the road, daydreaming during conversations and forgetting why they went from one part of the house to another.

Perhaps we should be as worried about the effect of screen time on older people as we are about its effect on kids; being sedentary shortens your life, and according to this MNN post, being lonely "is a strong predictor of premature death, worse mental health, and lower quality of life" The trends that Pew has found are really shocking - older people spending more time on screens, less time with people.

As for me, I'm finishing this post on this beautiful Sunday and turning off all my screens. I'm going to start some serious screen quotas for my non-working hours. I may even ask my wife to join me in a game of cards. I know my obsession with Twitter isn't healthy, but I didn't know it could kill me.

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Older People Are Spending Way More Time Looking at Screens, New Research Finds

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The Pew Research Center has just released a study finding that Americans 60 and older are spending more time in front of their screens than a decade ago. Screen time is up 27 percent. At first I thought this was totally unsurprising; way more older people are using computers than 10 years ago, when smartphones were just introduced and tablets didn't exist.

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Parents have enrolled their kids in extra curricular activities like Karate, zoomba, music and etc. inorder to decrease the screen time of their kid but indirectly it happens online.

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With schools restricting the duration of online classes, an increasing number of working parents are signing their children up for private online tuition and extracurricular classes to keep them engaged. The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in teachers and trained professionals offering a variety of classes, ranging from coding to painting to dance and even football coaching lessons. This is over and above the "traditional" online classes such as training for competitive exams and academics.

While many of the companies offering classes have switched to online mode because of the pandemic, many teachers and artists who have seen a reduction in their salaries or lost their jobs have decided to open their own enterprises and have designed online classes. Families who can afford it are using the opportunity to acquire new skills. Mitali Joshi, a designer and digital marketing expert who founded the Bengaluru-based company Your Future Skill, has started conducting Adobe Illustrator courses for students. "I decided to do this on the side, and have already conducted training for two batches. It is a five-day course which will end with an assessment. Students will get a certificate," she said.

Karan Bajaj, founder and CEO, WhiteHat Jr., which conducts courses in coding, said they had seen a surge in demand for online classes. They have four levels where children learn logic, structure, and algorithms to eventually make animations and applications. "While the beginner course involves building apps with logic and abstraction, at the intermediate level students learn to develop advanced art and single-character games. They finally move to the advanced and professional level courses," he said.

Parents pointed out that they were signing their children up for more extracurricular activities as they were saving a lot of time on commute. "Before the pandemic, my teenage son had football classes twice a week, and a weekly painting class. Now, besides these two classes, I have also signed him up for coding and yoga as he needs to be occupied through the day," said Ramya S.

Parents acknowledged that the time their children were spending sitting in front of a computer screen had shot up dramatically, but there was no other choice.

Not all online classes are popular, especially those trying to coach children in sports. For instance, online football classes involve students learning and practising skills such as ball control, single leg tic tac, double leg tic tac, step over, and so on. Renu Bhatt, one of the founders of Stadium FC which was started in 2010, said they had seen a reduction in the number of children opting for online classes compared to previous years. "We have designed drills that students can do in a small area. We focus on their fitness and technique, and students can take the classes from a small room in their house. Although we have kept in mind logistics, online football coaching is not a big hit among students. They want to come out and play on the field," she said.

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Surge in demand for online extracurricular activities during COVID-19 pandemic

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While many of the companies offering classes have switched to online mode because of the pandemic, many teachers and artists who have seen a reduction in their salaries or lost their jobs have decided to open their own enterprises and have designed online classes.

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Institutes like IITJEE and UPSC have also shifted online with all their study materials and videos available on screen- hence increasing the screen time.

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Screen time has added to the regular office screen, as the meetings and catchups have moved online and has also increased the working hours of the poeple.

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Expected change can be hard enough in ordinary circumstances. Leading forced change management for an organization, all while being virtual, can be even harder. Depending on the magnitude of your working environments, you may feel that you're not equipped to manage this dynamic, uncertain change-but you're further along than you think.
While many companies have an organizational change management (OCM) program around technical aspects, focusing and evolving your contingency plans and business continuity best practices around your people will help you navigate this new working culture-and keep productivity up and running.

Build a framework for communication and business continuity

Most organizations will be expected to perform as they were prior to the pandemic but will have to do it differently through virtual and remote management. If you had a business continuity plan in place, you'll need to make sure it covers all the needs of the business. This includes understanding how to make decisions with uncertainty-what is the best approach to maintain focus on execution, collaborate and communicate remotely, and keep the business going?

To do this, organizations need to ensure their business strategy incorporates crisis management, disaster recovery and risk management in order to adapt and get back on track to true business efforts. And fueling that productivity may look differently than before-such as building new progress dashboards or utilizing new collaboration tools. Keep in mind that change initiatives aren't all the same, so the approach should be flexible and scalable to match the needs of the business. This means making sure you're implementing OCM activities that provide the most value and desired outcomes. Using structured change management approaches will help build change awareness as your employees become more comfortable with new ways of working, such as:

Serving as extensions of, and connections between, project teams and impacted team members

Implementing feedback channels to gauge communications effectiveness, adoption, areas of resistance and areas of acceptance

Enabling and increasing the use of virtual/remote demonstrations, training, coaching and continuous improvement with the use of collaborative tools

Providing sustained support at the peer level

Creating a structured communications approach for remote work that supports employees will help them remain efficient in their roles without distractions. This includes best practice methods to ensure employees and customers are aware of the current situation, how it impacts them, and the new processes and procedures required to do their jobs. Fear of the unknown and uncertainty is a big aspect of people unable to remain productive, and any ad hoc approaches to manage employees that aren't engaged or prepared won't be effective. Organizations that can clearly and consistently communicate will be able to help calm fears and ultimately sustain business continuity.

Understand how your employees will be impacted

Many project plans are often centered around technology-not people or process. Historically, crisis concerns have primarily revolved around protecting telecommunications, broadband networks, servers and data for companies to continue to operate securely. Now, there's a need for organizations to focus on connecting their people to each other and leveraging facilitation skills to foster communications.

In an OCM framework, best practice methods and procedures are used to determine the impact change has on stakeholders, and how to manage that impact to ensure effectiveness. What's sometimes missing is the ability to tap into how stakeholders "experience" the change. For example, OCM helps manage employee challenges and new methods to enable them to stay productive on the job. Targeted communications can help address challenges with social distancing, working in a remote environment, or managing virtual meetings and conference calls. Therefore, it's important to execute a communication strategy that quickly shifts employees into a remote model that they're previously not accustomed to, in a way that still supports them.

It's also critical to increase ways for employees to provide feedback and escalate issues or concerns in a virtual or remote environment. Not having a feedback loop can slow change adoption immensely, or even cause it to fail. Targeted training can be provided to ensure employees are aware of the tools and techniques available to provide feedback in a remote environment and stay connected with team members and managers. In addition, prioritizing communication lines will provide you a more holistic view across teams, as well as help to lift productivity dips that inevitably occur during transition states.

Setting guidelines and expectations for virtual work will help keep people focused and productive during times of uncertainty. Many employees have never had to host or participate in virtual meetings before-they may not be sure how to act or may not be confident in using virtual technology or collaboration tools right away. Providing empowering training and development to your company, such as virtual team management coaching and collaboration management, can help employees pivot, adopt new ways of working and operate productively.

Navigate the now while planning for the future

In the short term, organizations may find themselves looking for business continuity templates and contingency packages to help communicate to their teams and set processes in place-all of which will certainly help to begin navigating their change management.

However, it's critical to consider the bigger picture and ensure your program is adaptable to not only your new environment, but one that is also sustainable for the long term-with the ability to evolve as developments, in any kind of crisis, continue to change. By developing and fostering the behavioral changes within a people-focused OCM plan for remote work, employees will be able to continue to hone those skills when operations return to "normal" and stay aligned in new capacities once back at the office. Employees that have learned new skills in remote collaboration and self-management will be even more effective when put in unique situations beyond today's COVID-19 crisis.

Structuring your OCM plan in this way will better speak to the nature of your workforce so they become more elastic, which can enhance productivity and increase efficiencies. Organizations will be better positioned to deal with similar crises in the future, with the ability to scale up or down with ease.

It comes down to the synergy between people, process and technology

What we're experiencing today boils down to an individual level where we must manage our teams and ourselves, while leveraging the right tools to succeed. Managing the people most impacted by change as you move forward in transitioning your organization's operations will help build stronger commitment and momentum, reduce stakeholder resistance and increase speed of adoption. And the resulting benefits can sustain transformation in the long term, whether you were planning for it or not.

A few tips to help navigate forced change management and adjust business continuity plans amid COVID-19:

Focus on the big picture. The strategic business goals and objectives that mattered yesterday matter more now. Tactics may need to be updated, but staying focused on the big picture is critical for business performance.

Adapt to new ways of productivity. This may include building new virtual dashboards on project or team progress, remote status meetings and team brainstorming sessions, or utilizing different collaboration tools to support remote communications. Whatever the case-remain flexible and provide support to project teams and impacted team members.

Clearly and consistently communicate. Creating a structured communications format and setting expectations for remote work will help keep people focused and productive during times of uncertainty.

Increase ways for employees to provide feedback and escalate issues or concerns. This will help you gauge communications effectiveness, adoption and areas of resistance.

Enable continuous improvement. Training and development, such as virtual team management coaching and collaboration management, can help employees pivot, adopt new ways of working and operate productively.

Build in elasticity. As you adjust your business continuity plans for the now, ensure your program is sustainable for the long term-with the ability to evolve as developments, in any kind of crisis, continue to change.

Paul Burton serves as a practice architect for TEKsystems Global Services. He has more than 25 years of experience in organizational change and project management, focusing on end-user adoption to ensure users understand new solutions that can positively impact their jobs.
Kelly O'Neill is an enterprise services practice architect for TEKsystems Global Services. With over 20 years of experience, she is an expert in business transformation, architecture and solution services, and strategy and engagement management.

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Charting a crisis: Bolstering business continuity with organizational change management

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Expected change can be hard enough in ordinary circumstances. Leading forced change management for an organization, all while being virtual, can be even harder. Depending on the magnitude of your working environments, you may feel that you're not equipped to manage this dynamic, uncertain change-but you're further along than you think.

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Parents though not exactly a part of the system, but had to sit through classes with their kids, intervene in their own busy office and home schedule just to provide a stable environment for kids to gain knowledge over calls adding on to their screen time.

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A lot of teachers were not exactly prepared for the pandemic, and this resulted in immense increased screen time for them as, the teachers aren't equipped with the knowledge of how online teaching works, so they have to undergo training session

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Infographic: Teachers continue to grapple with online classes

With everything shifting to the digital arena in the education sector, 79 per cent of parents across the country feel teachers are still struggling to cope with online classes and 28 per cent have also flagged their concerns about teachers not receiving proper training prior to or during the switch. The data was collected for a nation-wide survey launched by the parenting website, MomJunction, which took into account the efficiency of teacher-student interaction in virtual learning sessions. This survey was conducted across states like Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Rajasthan, Punjab, Bihar, Haryana, West Bengal, Maharashtra, and Telangana among others. A total of 500 mothers participated in the survey - 15 per cent of whom were parents of high schoolers, 39 per cent were guardians to kindergarteners, and 46 per cent were parents to primary school students.

The education sector is one of the numerous industries that suffered a massive setback due to the ongoing Coronavirus crisis. Ever since the pandemic was declared, educational institutions were shut down to protect students and teachers. Like many other sectors, teaching shifted online and at the time, it seemed to be an effective solution. However, as time passes on and the pandemic refuses to make its exit, there are a variety of issues cropping up as students, teachers are yet to adapt to the modern virtual classrooms.

According to the results of the survey conducted by MomJunction, many teachers are not used to conducting classes online - as a lot of the educators in our country neither have the necessary skills nor are properly trained to conduct online classes. "It might help to provide teachers with a crash course that will improve their digital literacy and therefore, make it easier for them to teach more efficiently online," the report suggests.

Around 48 per cent of parents who took the MomJunction survey admitted to supervising their kids to ensure their proper participation in online classrooms, while 85 per cent also said that they are spending more time helping their children with school-work as opposed to offline classes. "Spotting and managing a distracted student in a virtual classroom can be quite a task, therefore online classes should ideally be more interactive than a traditional classroom. Educators should revise their methodology to make students actively participate in the lessons," the report suggests.

Around 41 per cent of the parents observed that students have trouble grasping the lessons despite the best efforts of their teachers. They also agreed that teachers have been putting in their best efforts and explaining concepts multiple times for their students to comprehend. The survey also revealed that 82 per cent of parents found the teachers very knowledgeable, which then quite aptly points out that technological difficulties, incomplete training, and the inability to provide individual attention are the main reasons for poor comprehension.

In conclusion, the report suggests that we should focus on fixing the shortcomings of online classrooms instead of waiting for schools to reopen so that children can continue their education successfully without putting their health at risk.

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Survey finds 79% of parents feel teachers struggling to cope with online classes

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With everything shifting to the digital arena in the education sector, 79 per cent of parents across the country feel teachers are still struggling to cope with online classes and 28 per cent have also flagged their concerns about teachers not receiving proper training prior to or during the switch.

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Younger kids who have always been asked to stay away from home, are supposed to study on-screen, with longer interaction hours with their teacher.

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College students continue to grapple with the educational fallout of the pandemic.

School closures exacerbate issues of digital access and other inequities.

More and more students report feeling stressed and anxious due to COVID-19.

Students on and off campus will navigate colleges' shifting plans well into 2021.

Before places of worship, restaurants, and shops began to close in response to the coronavirus pandemic, college campuses sent students home. The dominoes started to fall last spring.

On March 6, the University of Washington in Seattle became the first major American college to shut down campus operations. Ten days later, over 250 U.S. colleges and universities followed suit.

Many schools held out hope of resuming at least some on-campus classes and operations by fall. But over the summer, a growing number of colleges adopted online or hybrid learning models. According to The College Crisis Initiative, over half of U.S. colleges were partly or primarily online in the fall.

Neither colleges nor students were prepared for prolonged campus closures. Both face a variety of challenges going forward.

Neither colleges nor students were prepared for prolonged campus closures. Both face a variety of challenges going forward. Due to subsequent coronavirus outbreaks, some institutions have already been forced to close a second time.

Across the board, college leaders say plans for the coming semesters are written in pencil.

Students Confront Coronavirus and Campus Closures

College students - most of whom are under 29 years of age - are among the least vulnerable to COVID-19. The China Center for Disease Control found that the COVID-19 fatality rate for the 10-39 age bracket was just 0.2%. The coronavirus poses the greatest threat to older faculty and staff, nontraditional students, and those with immunodeficiencies.

In addition to protecting high-risk campus members, campus closures aimed to protect the local community. Before any students tested positive for COVID-19, models showed that college campuses could be hotbeds for virus transmission.

Data shows a looser correlation between open campuses and rising COVID-19 case numbers than predicted.

Schools' diverse and active populations number in the thousands, all living in close proximity to one another. And as the surge in college disciplinary action suggests, social distancing measures can be difficult to enforce.

Data shows a looser correlation between open campuses and rising case numbers than predicted. Some areas experienced short-term spikes in case numbers after the local campus welcomed students back. But counties with college campuses actually logged fewer new COVID-19 cases per day than counties without campuses.

Most campus closures were enacted out of an abundance of caution rather than in response to confirmed cases. Now, many colleges have set a hard limit for how many positive cases their campuses can support before shutting down again.

College students, already a vulnerable group in regard to mental health, have been profoundly destabilized by the pandemic. Surveys show a massive surge in stress and anxiety among students. For many, pandemic concerns revolve less around getting sick and more around the loss of grade points, college credits, and income.

Students Anxious About Internet Access and Housing

For students figuring out where to go and how to get there, campus closures were like an eviction notice. The forced migration from in-person to online learning also deepened the digital divide - the gap between those who have access to the internet and technology at home, and those who do not.

While over 88% of Americans are internet users, the share of Americans with computers hovers around 74%, according to Statista. Smartphones can get you online, but they aren't machine enough for video conferences, online quizzes, and essay-writing.

Students who depend on campus operations for both resources and their livelihood dealt with extra repercussions. Many students worked on campus and struggled with loss of income when campuses closed. And those who called on-campus housing their permanent address were forced to patch together new plans, with many now facing homelessness.

Out-of-state students without local support networks had to reckon with these challenges alone. International students remain particularly vulnerable: First travel bans compounded the difficulties of campus closures, then came the news that international students would not be able to stay in the U.S. to take online college courses.

The Shift to Online Education Has Been Accelerated

The coronavirus pandemic has spurred the adoption of distance learning at all education levels. Thousands of colleges and universities, as well as hundreds of thousands of K-12 institutions, closed nationwide. The mass transition will be a proving ground for online education.

Until this year, colleges' shift online had been steady but slow. While student enrollment in online education increases year over year, the newest BestColleges Online Education Trends Report found that more than half of the colleges surveyed did not plan to raise their online education budgets.

"There aren't enough instructional designers and other learning support specialists to go around right now. These offices have not been a priority at all colleges and universities."

- Melissa Venable, Ph.D., Online Education Advisor for BestColleges

With the pandemic, schools rushed to fill gaps in their online infrastructures. Finding the money and experts to make those upgrades presented a hurdle, though. According to Melissa Venable, an online education advisor for BestColleges, "There aren't enough instructional designers and other learning support specialists to go around right now. These offices have not been a priority at all colleges and universities."

If ad hoc digital solutions don't work for students and teachers, the experience could stymie online education's future growth. "This quick and mandatory shift may reinforce the most challenging aspects, leading some instructors to be less likely to adopt online education in the future," Venable said.

Ramping up online education under present circumstances may not be ideal, but as Venable notes, "The focus is not about experimenting with technology, but an emergency response." The digital systems that colleges build to support students now will outlast the coronavirus and inform the digital approach to higher education going forward. Successes could even galvanize colleges to expand online offerings.

What Will the Spring Term Look Like?

The previous administration did not issue any national standards for how colleges should respond to COVID-19. President Joe Biden has made the first steps toward issuing such top-down guidance, directing the departments of Education and Health and Human Services to collaborate on best practices.

While safety measures may become standardized, the learning models and calendars that institutions follow could look different from university to university - even from campus to campus within a university. Still, certain decisions, like that initial choice to close up last March, reverberate throughout the country.

As for this spring, dozens of colleges have already announced a marked change: no spring break. Much like Thanksgiving break, spring break has been deemed too risky, potentially launching campus-bred infections out into the world and opening up campuses to infections once students return. Most of the colleges that will remove spring break from their academic calendars planned to start the winter term in late January or early February.

Dozens of colleges have already announced a marked change for spring 2021: no spring break.

Beyond shifting start and end dates, few institutions plan to change their approach for spring. In other words, most colleges that selected face-to-face, remote, or hybrid learning in the fall will stick to that same plan this spring. That includes the large California State University system, whose 23 campuses will remain virtual for the rest of the academic year.

Some schools have already announced virtual commencements for the class of 2021, while others are holding out hope of graduating their students in person - a hope that hinges on low infection rates and vaccine rollouts.
Feature Image: Klaus Vedfelt / DigitalVision / Getty Images

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Coronavirus Impacts on Students and Online Learning | BestColleges

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College students continue to grapple with the educational fallout of the pandemic. School closures exacerbate issues of digital access and other inequities. More and more students report feeling stressed and anxious due to COVID-19. Students on and off campus will navigate colleges' shifting plans well into 2021.

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7. What beliefs keep the structure in place?

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7. What beliefs keep the structure in place?

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1. Ignorance on the part of parents, handing out latest devices that are doing more harm than good. Not being better role models for their children

2. Teachers sticking to conventional methods of teaching and not opening newer avenues of learning. Could possibly introduce more offline or practical learning

3.Society, for enabling the hustle now culture. Not promoting mental well being as a top priority. Need more awareness about healthier lifestyles and practices

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1. Covid- 19 pandemic-the pandemic has been uncertain for the last year and we still have no clear answer as to when it will come to and end. with that being uncertain, what is certain is the shift of online teaching a permanent role in the life of students, as now they have become quite fluent with the idea of sitting in front of screen and working for long hours, but this leads to drastic problems in the short and long runs, with uneven sleep schedules and less to none physical activity
2. Progress and development-

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1. the uncertainty of the covid 19 pandemic, possible third wave?
2. With stricter guidelines regarding social media platforms , will there be any change?
3. Development of possible alternatives, sensory toys for toddlers, access to more traditional resources for teens? (Government intiatives)

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4. Developing better Blue Light Protection technology

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4. Developing better Blue Light Protection technology

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Wearing computer glasses can help.

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Jan. 15, 2021 -- The COVID-19 pandemic has been good for the blue light glasses industry.

As people in lockdown spend more time staring at laptops and other digital screens, they're ordering more blue light glasses, despite a lack of conclusive evidence the glasses actually reduce eyestrain or protect from the effects of blue light.

The optical company Zenni says sales for the blue-light-blocking product Blokz have risen 60% annually for the last 2 years, with nearly 2 million pairs sold in 2020 alone.

The glasses were already popular with office workers and gamers, "but most certainly the pandemic has had a pronounced effect [on sales] with nearly everyone absorbing more and more digital blue light than ever before," says Sean Pate, a brand marketing and communications officer for Zenni.

The Book Club eyewear company says sales for its blue light glasses through March and April 2020 rose 116% over the same time in 2019, with the surge continuing, according to The Business of Fashion.

"You never predict a moment like [a global pandemic] is the moment that a brand blossoms and all of a sudden starts to sell out and gain attention," says creative director Hamish Tame.

360ResearchReports, a market research company, says the global market for blue light eyewear will increase to $28 million by 2024, up from $19 million in 2020. Th e advertised benefits of the glasses include less eyestrain, improved sleep, and prevention of eye disease.

But do they really work? It depends on who you ask.

Because the glasses are a newer product, there's not a lot of research to show either way.

The American Academy of Ophthalmology says you don't need them and has gone on record as not recommending any kind of special eyewear for computer users. The organization says blue light from digital devices does not lead to eye disease and doesn't even cause eyestrain. The problems people complain about are simply caused by overuse of digital devices, it says.

"The symptoms of digital eye strain are linked to how we use our digital devices, not the blue light coming out of them," the AAO says.

In the United Kingdom, the College of Optometrists says, "The best scientific evidence currently available does not support the use of blue-blocking spectacle lenses in the general population to improve visual performance, alleviate the symptoms of eye fatigue or visual discomfort, improve sleep quality or conserve macula health."

But some eye professionals believe they have benefits.

Greg Rogers, senior optician at Eyeworks in Decatur, GA, says he's seen the benefits of blue light glasses among the shop's customers. The staff asks a client how much time they spend in front of a screen daily. If it's 6 hours or more, some sort of blue light reduction technique is recommended, whether it's glasses or a special screen for a computer monitor.

The Vision Council, which represents the optical industry, says it doesn't promote individual brands or products, and it "encourages everyone to do their own research, speak with an eye care provider, and determine the right solution for them and their family."

Blue Light is Everywhere

We were getting plenty of blue light before modern digital life began. Most of it comes from the sun. But gadgets like televisions, smartphones, laptops, and tablets that populate modern life emit the brighter, shorter-wavelength (more bluish) light.

And because of the pandemic, we're staring at those devices even more, according to Vision Direct, which surveyed 2,000 adults in the United States and another 2,000 in the United Kingdom.

The study, published in June 2020, found those adults averaged 4 hours and 54 minutes on a laptop before the lockdown and 5 hours and 10 minutes after. They spent 4 hours and 33 minutes on the smartphone before the lockdown, and 5 hours and 2 minutes after. Screen time went up for television watching and gaming, too.

Susan Primo, OD, an optometrist and professor of ophthalmology at Emory University, agrees that the research so far shows digital overuse, not blue light, causes eye problems. But some patients who wear blue light glasses do report less eyestrain, she says.

"If you want to wear them and find some benefits, that's fine," she says.

Primo says she's bothered by some of the marketing and advertising of blue light eyewear because it doesn't line up with the research.

"They can word it in such a way that makes it appear to be beneficial. They can say this might be possible. They can use words like 'may' and 'might,'" she says. "Marketing can take things to a level that might not be a sound recommendation, sound science, for people to go out and get them."

An example: A chain of stores in the United Kingdom, Boots Ltd., was fined 40,000 pounds in 2017 for misleading advertising that said digital blue light caused retinal damage, and special eyewear sold at Boots Ltd. could protect users, Optometry Today reported.

Trying to Get Some Sleep

Another argument in favor of blue light glasses is that they help you sleep better at night. Researchers agree that blue light from LED devices like your smartphone or laptop holds back the body's production of sleep-inducing melatonin.

A 2017 study done by the University of Houston found that participants wearing the glasses showed about a 58% increase in their nighttime melatonin levels. "By using blue blocking glasses we ... can improve sleep and still continue to use our devices. That's nice, because we can still be productive at night," said Lisa Ostrin, PhD, a professor at the university's College of Optometry, according to a university news release.

The American Academy of Ophthalmology takes a different approach. "You don't need to spend extra money on blue light glasses to improve sleep -- simply decrease evening screen time and set devices to night mode," the group says.

'I Believe I Can Work Longer'

Many consumers say the blue light glasses help.

Cindy Tolbert of Atlanta, a mystery novelist and retired lawyer, had a variety of vision problems and spent an extra $140 at the eye doctor for blue light lenses.

"It's not terribly apparent that the glasses help when you're wearing them, but I believe I can work longer, and I know I can work more comfortably," she says. "Usually my eyes poop out after 4 or 5 hours of computer work, but I can work longer with the glasses."

Michael Clarke of San Diego says he doesn't care what the experts say about blue light glasses. They work for him.

"I use them so often that I have a pair of blue light glasses around my neck all day," he said in 2019. "I'm not an optometrist. I just know that my eyes don't get as tired at the end of the day. My frequency of headaches has gone down. I'm able to focus on things easier on a screen."

Back in 2019, Erin Sattler of Bellevue, WA, was sold on blue light glasses, saying they eased eyestrain. But she's changed her view.

"After doing more research, I have learned that the blue light technology isn't well-founded and is largely a placebo effect," Sattler said this month. "I now wear mild prescription glasses, and THAT has made a major difference. I believe I was experiencing relief from achy eyes with the blue light glasses because I would take them off regularly to clean them, adjust them, or talk to a co-worker in my office."

You can easily order prescription and nonprescription blue light glasses at the optometrist's office or online.

Give Your Eyes a Break

If you're worried about how computers and other blue light-emitting screens are affecting your eyes, you can find relief without special eyewear.

The American Academy of Ophthalmology, the Vision Council, and other vision-related organizations urge moderation in screen use. Most of them recommend adopting the 20-20-20 rule. That means that every 20 minutes, you'll look at an object at least 20 feet away for 20 seconds.

The American Academy of Ophthalmology also recommends taking these steps:

Adjust your seat, or the position of your computer, so your eyes are about 25 inches from the screen. Position the screen so you're gazing slightly downward.

Use a matte screen filter on the screen to reduce glare.

Use artificial tears when your eyes feel dry.

Pay attention to the lighting in the room where you work. You might try increasing your screen contrast.

If you wear contact lenses, give your eyes a break by wearing glasses now and then.

Sources

Sean Pate, Zenni brand marketing and communications officer.

The Business of Fashion: "Eyewear Brands Cash In on Our Screen-Time Overdose."

American Academy of Ophthalmology: "Are Computer Glasses Worth It?" "Blue Light Digital Eye Strain."

College of Optometrists: "Blue blocking spectacle lenses."

Greg Rogers, senior optician, Eyeworks, Decatur, GA.

Hayley Rakus, the Vision Council.

Vision Direct: "How much time do we spend looking at screens?"

Susan Primo, OD, Emory University.

Optometry Today: "Boots Opticians Fined 40,000 Over Misleading Blue Light Advertising."

University of Houston: "Artificial Light From Digital Devices Lessens Sleep Quality."

Erin Lynn Sattler.

Cindy Tolbert.

Michael Clarke.

360ResearchReports: "Global Blue Light Blocking Glasses Market 2019 By Manufacturers, Regions, Type And Application, Forecast To 2024."

Zenni: "Protect Your Eyes from Blue Light."

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Pandemic Screen Time: Will Blue Light Glasses Help?

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Jan. 15, 2021 -- The COVID-19 pandemic has been good for the blue light glasses industry. As people in lockdown spend more time staring at laptops and other digital screens, they're ordering more blue light glasses, despite a lack of conclusive evidence the glasses actually reduce eyestrain or protect from the effects of blue light.

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3. Balance in both screen time & outdoor activities - 

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3. Balance in both screen time & outdoor activities - 

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Maintaining a balance to recover in terms of mental health, stress and sleep.

Taking up meditation and daily workout.

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Setting time aside for using gadgets and observing patterns for negative coping behaviour.

Can take up activities which help them ahead in life- become positive and think ahead about their life.

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Educating people about the rules and measures through the use social media and newspaper articles, keeping them updated about the trajectory and new information on the virus

People following restriction rules, wearing masks so we can move outdoors sooner

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lack of outdoor resources due to the pandemic

adapting to the new normal

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electronic waste

energy waste

plastic waste

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only privileged or upper middle class have access to these resources

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Propaganda for elections

biased media

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Embracing more western systems

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maintenance of status-quo

fear of missing out

rise of COVID-19

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4. What has been increasing repeatedly? (patterns)

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4. What has been increasing repeatedly? (patterns)

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Shift to the Digital (groceries, social media, other resources)

Promotion of "Hustle Now" Culture

Advancement in Technology (gadgets like Kindle, PlayStations, Smart Watches etc)

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Classrooms replaced by online learning

Playgrounds replaced by video games and on-screen videos

Daily chore outdoor activities confined to ordering online or in-front of tv, mobile screens

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2. How is India currently dealing with the situation?

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2. How is India currently dealing with the situation?

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Spiritual practices such as meditation and Yoga

Blue Light Filters

Dissociation from Social Media

Awareness about Life

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Rise of Covid - 19

Promotion of Work/Study from Home culture

Exposure to increasing screen time

Shifting of extra-curriculum activities (karate, music etc) online

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The just out of college group, ready to start working in the industry has been pushed into a vicious 24 hour cycle, where they don't have a set -'9 to5 work lifestyle' , this has led to irregular screen time for them.

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the whole education paradigm has shifted online which is a good way to enhance and uplift the youth of India; but still requires enormous amount of screen hours for young children; which might led to early onset of a lot of health problems

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Abstract

The restrictions put in place to contain the COVID-19 virus have led to widespread social isolation, impacting mental health worldwide. These restrictions may be particularly difficult for adolescents, who rely heavily on their peer connections for emotional support. However, there has been no longitudinal research examining the psychological impact of the COVID-19 pandemic among adolescents. This study addresses this gap by investigating the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on adolescents' mental health, and moderators of change, as well as assessing the factors perceived as causing the most distress. Two hundred and forty eight adolescents ( M age = 14.4; 51% girls; 81.8% Caucasian) were surveyed over two time points; in the 12 months leading up to the COVID-19 outbreak (T1), and again two months following the implementation of government restrictions and online learning (T2). Online surveys assessed depressive symptoms, anxiety, and life satisfaction at T1 and T2, and participants' schooling, peer and family relationships, social connection, media exposure, COVID-19 related stress, and adherence to government stay-at-home directives at T2 only. In line with predictions, adolescents experienced significant increases in depressive symptoms and anxiety, and a significant decrease in life satisfaction from T1 to T2, which was particularly pronounced among girls. Moderation analyses revealed that COVID-19 related worries, online learning difficulties, and increased conflict with parents predicted increases in mental health problems from T1 to T2, whereas adherence to stay-at-home orders and feeling socially connected during the COVID-19 lockdown protected against poor mental health. This study provides initial longitudinal evidence for the decline of adolescent's mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic. The results suggest that adolescents are more concerned about the government restrictions designed to contain the spread of the virus, than the virus itself, and that those concerns are associated with increased anxiety and depressive symptoms, and decreased life satisfaction.

Introduction

The COVID-19 pandemic has swept through the globe quickly and indiscriminately. Government restrictions put in place to slow the spread of the virus have led to widespread social isolation, which can have profound consequences for mental health (Brooks et al. 2020). While these restrictions have been challenging for people of all ages, they may be particularly difficult for adolescents, who at this developmental stage rely heavily on their peer connections for emotional support and social development (Ellis and Zarbatany 2017). As orders to stay at home and socially distance from others impedes most peer interaction, it is important to examine the impact that this is having on adolescents' mental health, especially given the strong associations between interpersonal stress and the onset of emotional difficulties among adolescents (Rapee et al. 2019). However, to date there is no longitudinal research examining the psychological impact of the COVID-19 pandemic among adolescents, and what is known is limited by retrospective reports of perceived mental health changes (e.g., Hawke et al. 2020). The current study addressed this gap by examining changes in adolescent mental health within a longitudinal framework that included baseline measures of adolescents' mental health before the COVID-19 pandemic, and a second measure two months following the implementation of government restrictions and online learning.

Increased Vulnerability during Adolescence

To appreciate the importance of examining the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on adolescent mental health, one must first understand the pertinent developmental changes that occur during adolescence that may make this a particularly distressing time. Adolescence has often been labeled by developmental theorists as a period of storm and stress (Casey et al. 2010). This is due in part, to the physical and chemical changes occurring in the brain from early adolescence, which result in a 'neural mismatch' whereby emotionality is heightened in response to real and/or perceived stressors (Bailen et al. 2019), yet the self-regulatory system required to manage these emotions remains largely underdeveloped until early adulthood (Somerville et al. 2010). Another defining characteristic of adolescence is the marked increase in social sensitivity and the importance of peers (Somerville 2013). As adolescents strive for independence from their parents, the time spent with peers increases dramatically, and for the first time, friends rather than parents become the primary source of interaction and influence (Meuwese et al. 2017). However, the increased social sensitivity that emerges during adolescence also means that peer relationships can be a major source of conflict, rejection, and interpersonal stress (Somerville 2013). During adolescence, acceptance and rejection by peers is used to guide behaviors, shape self-concept and gauge self-worth (Connell and Wellborn 1991). Thus, negative peer interactions during this important developmental window can lead to poor self-concept, a low sense of worth, and subsequent increases in symptoms of anxiety and depression, whereas positive peer relationships can provide social and emotional support, which are known to protect against the risk of both depression and anxiety (La Greca and Harrison 2005).

The increases in interpersonal stress, coupled with heightened emotional reactivity and low emotion-regulation, can place adolescents at a greater risk of developing many common forms of psychopathology including generalized anxiety, eating disorders, depression, and social anxiety (Rapee et al. 2019). In fact, this particular subset of internalizing disorders has previously been referred to as "disorders of adolescence" due to their typical median onset age of 13 to 19 years (Rapee et al. 2019). Collectively, the developmental characteristics of adolescence, the typical age of onset for these social emotional disorders, and the fact that adolescents have been conducting their schooling online, spending most of their time indoors and are physically separated from their peers, means they may be at an increased risk of developing psychological problems during the COVID-19 global pandemic.

Previous COVID-19 Studies

Whilst it may take years, and many studies, to fully understand the sequelae of the COVID-19 pandemic, prior research shows a consistent link between the pandemic and mental health. Importantly, existing research highlights a number of COVID-19 related factors (e.g., government restrictions, media exposure, etc.) that may influence these associations. As the current study explores these factors in conjunction with prospective changes in mental health, the existing research is reviewed here briefly to demonstrate the association between COVID-19 and mental health, and to highlight any relevant influencing factors.

Previous studies with adults consistently point to the detrimental impact of COVID-19 on the mental health of individuals. For example, research conducted among 1210 respondents during the early stages of the crisis in China found that more than half (53.8%) rated the negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on their psychological health as moderate to severe (Wang et al. 2020). A second study in China reported COVID-19 related increases in generalized anxiety, which were found to be more pronounced in younger people (<35 years) compared to older age groups (Huang and Zhao 2020). A meta-analysis of 13 studies of mental health among healthcare workers found that almost a quarter exhibited elevated COVID-19 related symptoms of anxiety (23.2%) and depression (22.8%), and more than a third (38.9%) experienced problems with insomnia (Pappa et al. 2020).

To date, few studies have evaluated the impact of the pandemic on mental health in adolescents. One study surveyed 1738 Chinese participants at two time points following the commencement of the pandemic and found no significant changes across time in depression, anxiety and stress over the study period (Wang et al. 2020). However, there was some indication that younger people (aged 12-21 years) perceived the impact of COVID-19 to be greater than older adults (aged 50-59 years). Beliefs about the ease of virus transmission and increased media exposure to health information about COVID-19 were significantly associated with depression and/or anxiety at both time points. In contrast, taking precautionary measures to avoid transmission (e.g., regular handwashing), complying with the stay-at-home orders, and low perceived likelihood of contracting and dying from COVID-19 were all found to be protective.

In a study focused on youth, retrospective reports of mental health symptoms three months prior to the pandemic were compared to those three weeks into the pandemic among 622 Canadian adolescents and young adults (Hawke et al. 2020). Participants perceived reductions in their mental health across the period, particularly in depression/low mood and anxiety. Another study also found high levels of depression and anxiety in Chinese adolescents during the peak of the pandemic, although lower levels were reported among males and youth that regularly engaged in exercise (Chen et al. 2020). Finally, a survey of 1054 Canadian adolescents ( M age = 16.68) found that adolescents were most concerned about the impact on their schooling, followed by general concerns about the COVID-19 crisis, and not feeling connected to friends (Ellis et al. 2020). Further, COVID-19 related concerns, spending less time on schoolwork and more time with friends was positively associated with depression, whereas spending more time with family was negatively associated. COVID-19 related concerns were also positively associated with loneliness, while spending more time with family and friends, and engaging in more physical activity, was negatively associated. Social media use moderated the association between COVID-19 concerns and depression, with those reporting high levels of social media use also reporting the most depression.

Potential Risk and Protective Moderating Factors

The cross-sectional research cited above points to a number of factors that may be important for examining the association between adolescent mental health and COVID-19 longitudinally. Namely age, gender, media exposure, family conflict, changes to schooling, adherence to restrictions, and levels of social connection have all been implicated as potential moderators within the existing research. As previous research has demonstrated that adolescents were particularly concerned about feeling socially disconnected from their friends, and that COVID-19 related worries along with less time on schooling were significantly associated with depression cross-sectionally (Ellis et al. 2020), it is possible that social connectedness, COVID-19 related concerns, and disruptions to schooling may predict change from pre-pandemic to intra-pandemic levels of depression, anxiety and life satisfaction. Further, as a prior two-wave study found that increased exposure to media reports about COVID-19 was significantly associated with increases in anxiety and depression, whereas complying with the stay at home rules was protective (Wang et al. 2020), it is important to examine these associations longitudinally. Considering the substantial amount of time adolescents spend on social media, it may also be important to examine the effect of exposure to COVID-19 related media reports via social media, particularly as prior has found that increased social media use during the pandemic was associated with increased adolescent depression and anxiety (Ellis et al. 2020).

Interestingly none of the studies reviewed above investigated whether mental health outcomes during the COVID-19 pandemic differed by sex, which is surprising considering the well-established sex differences in the prevalence and severity of depression and anxiety (Rose and Rudolph 2006). Hence, research examining sex differences in adolescents' responses to COVID-19 and its associated restrictions is needed to address this gap. Finally, as depression and anxiety are known to increase, and life satisfaction to decrease, from early adolescence onward (Goldbeck et al. 2007; Rapee et al. 2019), it is important to ensure that any potential prospective changes in mental health symptoms during COVID-19 are not simply due to age effects. However to date, developmental differences in COVID-19 responses have not been examined in adolescent samples.

The Current Study

Taken together, the above research provides consistent evidence that the COVID-19 crisis may be having a significant impact on the psychological health of adolescents across the globe. However, all of these studies have relied on respondents indicating the perceived impact of COVID-19 on their current mental health. Only longitudinal studies that include a baseline measure before COVID-19 can truly detect changes in mental health related to the pandemic, although there has been no such research to date. To address this gap, the primary purpose of the current research was to determine the effect of the pandemic and the government-imposed restrictions associated with the response to COVID-19 on the emotional health of adolescents. The first aim was to identify which factors were viewed by adolescents as producing the greatest COVID-19 related distress. It was hypothesized that not being able to see and spend time with friends, and concerns about moving to online learning, would cause adolescents the most distress. The second aim was to prospectively investigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on changes in adolescent anxiety, depressive symptoms, and life satisfaction. It was anticipated that from T1 (pre-pandemic) to T2 (during the pandemic) adolescents would report an increase in symptoms of anxiety and depression, and a decrease in overall life satisfaction. The third aim was to ascertain which factors during the pandemic served to decrease or increase the risk of experiencing adjustment difficulties two months after the pandemic began and whether there were any age or sex differences evident. It was predicted that disruptions to schooling, COVID-19 related distress, family conflict, and frequent media exposure during the pandemic, would serve to increase the risk of mental health problems, whereas feeling socially connected and adhering to COVID-19 related restrictions during the lockdown would decrease the risk of mental health problems two months into the pandemic. As depression and anxiety are more prevalent in girls than in boys, it was expected that any changes in mental health symptoms from T1 to T2 would be stronger in girls compared to boys, and if the predicted increases in mental health problems from T1 to T2 are simply due to developmental maturation, it was expected older adolescents would report greater increases in symptoms of depression and anxiety, and greater decreases in life satisfaction, than younger adolescents.

Methods

Participants

Participants in the current study were part of the larger longitudinal Risks to Adolescent Wellbeing Project (the RAW Project) who have been completing online questionnaires annually for the past four years. Participants in the study resided in an urban area of New South Wales (NSW) Australia, and the majority of participating families in the RAW Project are Caucasian (81.8%), speak English as a first language (96.4%), and have previously reported a middle to high socioeconomic status (79.2%). Of the 467 adolescents invited to participate in the COVID-19 survey, 248 (53%) returned completed responses and thus comprised the current sample. At the time the COVID-19 survey was completed, the adolescents were aged 13 to 16 years ( M age = 14.4, SD = 0.5), with almost equal numbers of boys ( n = 122) and girls ( n  = 126) participating.

Measures

Generalized anxiety

The Generalized Anxiety subscale (e.g., "I worry about things") of the Spence Children's Anxiety Scale (SCAS-C; Spence 1998) was used to measure self-reported symptoms of anxiety. Adolescents were required to indicate how often they experienced each symptom on a 4-point Likert scale ranging from 0 (never) to 3 (always). The total scores for the Generalized Anxiety subscale ranged from 0 to 18 with higher scores indicating greater anxiety. The Cronbach's alphas in the current study were acceptable (α = 0.86 at T1 and 0.87 at T2).

Depressive symptoms

The Short Mood and Feelings Questionnaire-Child Version (SMFQ-C; Angold et al. 1995) is a 13-item self-report measure used to assess symptoms of depression in children and adolescents. Participants were required to indicate how true each statement was for them over the past 2 weeks on a 3-point Likert scale ranging from 0 (not true) to 2 (always true). Total scores ranged from 0 to 26 with higher scores indicating more depressive symptoms. The reliability of the measure was good in the current sample (α = 0.91 at T1 and 0.93 at T2).

Life satisfaction

The Student's Life Satisfaction Scale (SLSS; Huebner 1994) is a 9-item self-report measure of global life satisfaction for young people. Adolescent participants were required to indicate their level of agreement with a statement (e.g., "My life is going well") on a 7-point Likert scale ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 7 (strongly agree). After reverse coding the two negatively worded items, item scores were averaged to provide a mean score ranging from 1 to 7, with higher scores indicating greater life satisfaction. The Cronbach's alphas in the current study were high (α = 0.91 at T1 and 0.92 at T2).

COVID-19 related distress

This 18-item measure assessing COVID-19 related distress was specifically developed for the current research (items listed in Fig. 1). Adolescents were required to indicate how distressed they were about each item listed on a 10-point scale ranging from 1 (not at all distressed) to 10 (extremely distressed). Item scores were averaged to provide a mean score ranging from 1 to 10 with higher scores indicating greater COVID-19 related distress. The Cronbach's alpha for the new scale was 0.91.

Factors contributing to COVID-19 related distress among adolescents. Rated on a scale of 0 (not at all distressed) to 10 (extremely distressed)

Disruption to schooling

To understand the impact of COVID-19 on schooling four items were developed to assess: format of school attendance, difficulties during online learning, motivation to complete school work, and impact on education. Specifically, adolescents were asked if they were (a) attending school in-person; (b) learning online only; or (c) participating in a mix of in-person and online schooling. For those learning online, an additional yes or no question was asked: "Have you had any difficulties switching to online learning?", and if yes, an open-ended question followed asking for details of their difficulties. The self-perceived impact of online learning and COVID-19 on education was measured using two questions, "Do you think your education is suffering due to online schooling?" and "Do you think your education is suffering due to the disruptions from COVID-19?", rated on a 4-point scale from 1 (not at all) to 4 (a great deal). The two questions were highly correlated ( r = 0.758, p  < 0.001) so a mean of the two scores was calculated with higher scores indicating a larger impact on schooling. A single-item question was used to measure the change in students' motivation to complete school work (i.e., "Compared to how motivated you usually are to do school work, how motivated do you feel now to do your school work?") rated on a 3-point scale (1 = much less motivated, 2 = about the same, 3 = much more motivated).

Media exposure

One question assessed their exposure to traditional news media (i.e., "On average, how often to you read/watch media reports about COVID-19 each day?") and a second question assessed social media related exposure (i.e., "On average, how often do you read posts about COVID-19 on social media each day?"). Both items were rated on a 6-point scale from 1 (not at all) to 6 (five times or more).

Interpersonal conflict

The current study developed four self-report item to assess change in interpersonal conflict between adolescents and their mothers, fathers, siblings, and friends due to the COVID-19 social distancing rules and stay at home restrictions (e.g., "Do you feel you are having more or fewer disagreements/arguments with your father?"). Adolescents responded on a 5-point Likert scale ranging from 1 (we have argued much less) to 5 (we have argued much more), thus higher scores indicated greater interpersonal conflict.

Social connectedness

The Social Connectedness Scale (SCS; Lee and Robbins 1995) is a measure of how emotionally distant or connected a respondent feels with those close to them, and society more broadly. Adolescents were required to indicate their level of agreement with eight statements (e.g., "I feel distant from people") on a 6-point scale, ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 6 (strongly agree). Item scores were averaged to provide a mean score ranging from 1 to 6, with higher scores indicating greater social connectedness. The Cronbach's alpha value in the current study was high (α = 0.91).

Adherence to COVID-19 Australian government stay-at-home directive

At the time T2 data was collected, laws in Australia were in place to help minimize the spread of COVID-19. Residents of the state New South Wales were asked to stay at home unless they were going to work or school, obtaining food or other essential goods and services, exercising, or seeking medical care. To assess adherence to this stay-at-home directive, adolescents were asked how often they had left their home for reasons other than those listed above, responding on a 5-point scale from 0 (I have only left my home for the reasons listed above) to 4 (more than 10 times).

Procedure

The parents of all adolescents currently enrolled in the RAW Project were sent information about the COVID-19 study and a link to the T2 online survey. Parents who consented to their child participating, then shared the link with their child who assented online prior to beginning the survey. Participants were asked to complete the survey within two weeks of receiving the initial email, after which the survey was closed. The World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a pandemic on March 11, 2020. The T1 data used for the current study was collected online throughout 2019 as part of the larger RAW Project (thus prior to the COVID-19 pandemic), and the T2 data was collected between May 5th and May 14th 2020, approximately two months after the Australian government had imposed the stay-at-home orders and schools had moved to online learning.

Data Analysis

Distribution and descriptive statistics were obtained through SPSS (v26; IBM Corp. 2019). To determine whether levels of depressive symptoms, anxiety, and life satisfaction significantly increased or decreased in the period before the pandemic began and two months into the pandemic, a paired samples t-test in SPSS was conducted. Potential moderators of the change in mental health scores before and during COVID-19 were examined in SPSS using Model 2 in the MEMORE macro (Montoya and Hayes 2017), which is specifically designed to assess moderation in two instance repeated measures research designs (Montoya 2019). This procedure computes a pre-post difference score and then determines whether the moderator of interest predicts that difference (Judd et al. 2001; Kenny 2018). For all non-dichotomous moderators, significant interactions were probed at 1 SD above and below the mean. Data coverage for T1 and T2 mental health variables was 99.6% to 100%, respectively. All other variables contained less than 1% missing data with the exception of the family conflict variables which had a "not applicable option" for family members not living within the same household. This resulted in non-responses of 3.2% for mother, 9.7% for father, and 7.7% for siblings. Due to the small percentage of missing data, all analyses were conducted using pairwise deletion.

Results

Preliminary Results

Descriptive statistics (for total sample, and boys and girls separately) and correlations between key variables are displayed in Tables 1 and 2. As shown in Table 1, most variables were normally distributed with no obvious skewedness (−0.81 to 1.72), although the kurtosis of values of depressive symptoms at T1 (2.21) and exposure to traditional media at T2 (3.76) fell slightly above the recommended values of plus or minus two (Gravetter et al. 2020). As expected, on average girls reported more symptoms of depression and anxiety at both time points, whereas boys reported more familial conflict during the lockdown period. Boys and girls were more similar on average levels of life satisfaction, exposure to COVID-19 related media, and attitudes toward the impact of COVID-19 on their schooling. The correlations in Table 2 show that all mental health variables were significantly correlated within and between time points in the predicted direction. COVID-19 related distress and feeling socially disconnected from others were most strongly related to all mental health symptoms, as well as being significantly associated with viewing posts about COVID-19 on social media, less motivation to study, a greater perceived negative impact on schooling, and greater conflict with siblings.

Table 1 Means and standard deviations for key study variables for male, female, and total sample

Table 2 Bivariate correlations between key study variables

Adolescents Distress during COVID-19

Addressing the first aim concerning what is causing adolescents the most distress, Fig. 1 shows that adolescents reported low to moderate levels of COVID-19 related stress across the 18 items assessed. As predicted, the most distressing issue for adolescents during this time was not being able to see their friends, closely followed by a friend or family member contracting and getting very sick and/or dying from COVID-19. Also high on adolescents' lists of concerns was the inability to participate in their normal extra-curricular activities (e.g., sports, dance, music lessons etc.) or attend social events. In contrast, they reported very little concern about contracting, getting ill or dying from COVID-19 themselves.

Overall Changes in Mental Health

To address the second aim relating to changes in mental health prior to and during the pandemic, the results of the paired samples t-tests showed significant increases in adolescents' symptoms of depression, ( t(1, 247) = 6.26, p < 0.001, d = 0.15), and anxiety, ( t(1, 244) = 5.26, p < 0.001, d = 0.40), and a significant decrease in life satisfaction, ( t(1, 244) = −5.26, p < 0.001, d  = 0.61) from T1 (before the pandemic) to T2 (2 months into the pandemic).

Potential Moderating Factors

To address the third aim of the research, the results for each of the potential moderating factors examined are presented below. To aid interpretation, the statistical results of all moderating analyses are summarized in Table 3 and described in text below.

Table 3 Results of the moderation analysis: test of factors that moderate changes in mental health from T1 to T2

Sex

Sex of the youth significantly moderated the change scores in depressive symptoms, with results indicating that although there were significant increases in depressive symptoms from T1 to T2 for both boys and girls, this effect was more pronounced in girls. This result was replicated for changes in anxiety, with girls again showing the largest increases in symptoms from T1 to T2. Finally, sex significantly moderated the change in life satisfaction from T1 to T2 with girls showing the greatest decrease.

Age

Age did not moderate change in depressive symptoms, anxiety, or life satisfaction from T1 to T2.

COVID-19 related distress

Levels of distress associated with the COVID-19 pandemic significantly moderated change scores in depressive symptoms, anxiety, and life satisfaction from T1 to T2. Specifically, adolescents with high and moderate levels of COVID-19 related distress experienced significantly greater increases in anxiety and depressive symptoms, and significantly greater decreases in life satisfaction, over time than those with low levels of COVID-19 related distress.

Disruption to schooling

The most commonly reported problems when learning online were related to technology problems, not understanding the learning materials, being unable to ask the teacher to explain the work, and problems with motivation. Results showed that switching to learning exclusively online had no significant effect on levels of depressive symptoms, anxiety, or life satisfaction. However, experiencing the abovementioned difficulties with online learning did significantly moderate change in depressive symptoms, with those who experienced problems reporting significantly more depressive symptoms during COVID-19, compared to those who experienced no problems with online learning. Online learning difficulties did not moderate changes in anxiety or life satisfaction from T1 to T2. Participants' perceptions that their education was suffering during the COVID-19 lockdown had no significant effect on change scores in depressive symptoms, anxiety or life satisfaction. Finally, differences in motivation to engage in school work before and during the COVID-19 pandemic had no significant effect on changes in depressive symptoms, anxiety or life satisfaction.

Media exposure

Frequency of exposure to traditional media reports (i.e., television, newspaper) about COVID-19 had no significant effect on change in depressive symptoms, but there was a significant moderating effect on changes in anxiety. Results showed those reporting high levels of traditional media exposure had significantly greater decreases in anxiety from T1 to T2 than those reporting low exposure. Frequency of exposure to COVID-19 traditional media reports had no significant effect on changes in life satisfaction. The frequency of reading posts about COVID-19 on social media had no significant effect on changes in depressive symptoms, anxiety or life satisfaction.

Interpersonal conflict

Increased conflict with siblings, friends and mothers had no significant interaction effect on depressive symptoms, however, increased conflict with fathers during COVID-19 significantly moderated change in depressive symptoms from T1 to T2. Those experiencing an increase in conflict with their fathers reported more depressive symptoms at T2 than those that did not. Levels of interpersonal conflict with siblings, friends, mothers or fathers did not moderate change scores in anxiety. Interpersonal conflict with both mothers and fathers significantly moderated changes in life satisfaction with those reporting greater conflict with their mother and father also reporting larger declines in life satisfaction than those with low parental conflict. Interpersonal conflict with siblings and friends had no effect on changes in life satisfaction.

Social connectedness

Feeling socially connected during the COVID-19 lockdown period significantly moderated changes in depressive symptoms, anxiety and life satisfaction. Those perceiving high levels of social connection during COVID-19 reported significantly fewer depressive symptoms and anxiety, and significantly more life satisfaction from T1 to T2 than those feeling socially disconnected during the lockdown period.

Adherence to COVID-19 government restrictions

Adherence to the government's stay at home directive had no significant effect on changes in depressive symptoms or anxiety, however, those reporting greater adherence to the stay at home rules reported lower declines in life satisfaction from T1 to T2 compared to those who continued to leave their homes more frequently.

Discussion

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on the lives of millions around the world. Government measures put in place to contain the virus have physically and socially isolated adolescents from their friends, extended family, and other social support networks, leaving many feeling socially isolated, and consequently, at an increased risk of psychological disorder. However, to date, there has been no longitudinal research examining how the pandemic has impacted adolescents' mental health despite decades of research demonstrating the potential lifelong risks associated with prolonged interpersonal stress and social isolation during the adolescent years (e.g., Loades et al. 2020). Further, research has not yet examined which demographic and COVID-19 related factors serve to increase or decrease adolescent mental health symptoms over time. The current study addressed these research gaps by conducting a longitudinal investigation into the effect the COVID-19 virus and its associated restrictions are having on adolescents' mental health, as well as identifying some of the critical impacts and life changes associated with the pandemic. Potential moderators of change in mental health symptoms were also investigated including age, sex, disruptions to schooling, COVID-19 related distress, family conflict, media exposure, social connection, and adherence to COVID-19 related restrictions.

Negative Emotionality

As predicted, the results showed that adolescents' mental health had slightly deteriorated compared to pre-pandemic levels and a number of pandemic-related factors were related to those changes. When interpreting the results, it must be kept in mind that, although mental health measures were taken on two occasions, potential moderators were only measured once and therefore, the results are unable to indicate the direction of relationships.

The pre-pandemic to intra-pandemic increase in depressive symptoms and anxiety, and decrease in life satisfaction found in the current study is generally consistent with previous retrospective and cross-sectional studies in both adult and adolescent samples, which have reported perceived increases in depression, anxiety, and loneliness due to the effects of COVID-19 (Chen et al. 2020; Wang et al. 2020; Ellis et al. 2020). The current study strengthens and builds upon this literature by demonstrating that living with the restrictions and concerns surrounding COVID-19 are related to not only increases in emotional distress but also with decreases in life satisfaction. More importantly, the prospective collection of these data allows stronger conclusions to be drawn, that go beyond the perceived attributions of participants. Interestingly, while significant decrements in adolescent mental health were demonstrated prospectively, the size of these effects were quite modest, with changes ranging from 0.2 to 0.6 standard deviations. Clearly a large proportion of adolescents are coping well with the impact of the pandemic, at least in the early stages, and most are showing minimal negative impact.

Gender and Age Differences

The finding that girls are experiencing greater declines in mental health than boys during the COVID-19 crisis may not only reflect the well-established literature highlighting sex differences in internalizing problems (e.g., Rose and Rudolph 2006), but also that girls are more likely than boys to rely on their social networks for support when dealing with significant life stressors (Tamres et al. 2002). Thus, the move to online schooling and the restrictions placed on social interaction may effectively impede adolescent girls from employing their most commonly used coping strategy. Although this suggestion would need to be formally tested, the current findings suggest that it may be particularly important to encourage adolescent girls to connect with their friendship groups via safe means, so they can continue to access their much-needed social support systems during the COVID-19 crisis. Previous research has also shown that the prevalence of internalizing disorders increases from early to mid-adolescence (Goldbeck et al. 2007). However, the current study did not find any moderating effect of age, suggesting that the observed increase in mental health symptoms from T1 to T2 cannot be simply explained by these developmental differences, and may instead be due to the changing social, educational and economic climate as a result of COVID-19.

Social Connection and Familial Conflict

Consistent with developmental theory stressing the importance of peer relationships and social interaction during adolescence (Meuwese et al. 2017), and previous findings (Ellis et al. 2020), the current results revealed that adolescents' greatest concern during the COVID-19 lockdown was not being able to see their friends. In fact, all items mentioning friends or social connection were rated higher than any of the other COVID-19 related worries. Signifying the possibility of developmental differences, these findings contrast with research in adults, as adults expressed the greatest concern over family members contracting COVID-19 (Wang et al. 2020). The present results also showed that feeling socially disconnected during the pandemic was associated with higher levels of anxiety and depressive symptoms and lower levels of life satisfaction. The importance of feeling socially connected during the pandemic has been demonstrated previously when it was found that adolescents left alone at home all day reported significantly higher levels of depression and anxiety than those who were accompanied by a parent or relative (Chen et al. 2020). As the current results cannot indicate the causal direction, it is equally plausible that emotional distress leads to social disconnection or that social disconnection leads to greater emotional distress. If the latter direction is demonstrated in future research, it might suggest that organizing to have a parent or relative work from home during such stressful times, may help in mitigating the risks for anxiety and depression, as long as it does not result in greater familial conflict.

About a quarter of the adolescents surveyed reported that conflict with their parents had increased during the lockdown period, which was associated with decreases in life satisfaction; and increased conflict with fathers was associated with more depressive symptoms. This increase in parental conflict and decrease in mental health may reflect a developmental discrepancy between adolescents' inherent drive to connect with peers and seek greater autonomy from their parents (Somerville 2013), while at the same time being ordered to stay at home and physically distance from their friends. This possibility is further supported by the finding that although half of the current sample reported an increase in conflict with their siblings, this was not associated with changes to their mental health during the lockdown period.

Educational Concerns

The current results also indicated that adolescents were not overly concerned with the impact that COVID-19 was having on their education, nor was this related to any of the mental health outcomes examined. These findings are inconsistent with previous work which found that one of adolescents' most pressing COVID-19 related worries was the detriment to their education (Ellis et al. 2020). This may be because the earlier research was carried out immediately following the switch to online learning whereas the current study assessed concerns two months after the initial change, providing students with the opportunity to adapt and settle into their new learning environment. It may also be due to the younger age of the current cohort relative to those in the earlier study, most of whom were in senior school-a time when grades are important in determining acceptance into university and future occupational opportunities. Although, there was no association between mental health problems and moving to online learning, the current study did find that experiencing difficulties during online learning was associated with an increase in depressive symptoms from T1 to T2. The most commonly reported difficulties were related to technology problems, not understanding the learning materials, being unable to ask the teacher questions, and problems with motivation. All of these difficulties could be relatively easily addressed should online learning be continued long-term (e.g., providing a platform to ask teachers questions during the lesson rather than having to wait for an email response), and implementing these changes may mitigate the increased risk for depressive symptoms if the causal direction of this association does go from learning difficulties to depression.

Media Exposure

Contrary to expectations, high exposure to traditional media reports about COVID-19 had a negative relationship with changes in generalized anxiety levels, and no significant effect on changes in life satisfaction or depressive symptoms. Although there is no clear explanation for the contradictory findings between the current and previous studies, some research suggests that associations between media exposure and internalizing distress are nuanced (Wang et al. 2020). A recent study in China found that although greater depression and anxiety were associated with exposure to radio reports around COVID-19, the same effect was not found in relation to television and internet reports (Wang et al. 2020). These findings are broadly consistent with those found in the current study in that social media posts about COVID-19 were not associated with changes in mental health, whereas reading and watching media reports were positively related to good mental health.

While the direction of these associations cannot be determined from the current results, they are consistent with a suggestion that changes in anxiety led to differences in media exposure. Specifically, due to the established links between avoidant coping and anxiety (Richardson et al. in press), it might be logical to interpret that young people who became more anxious during the COVID-19 period avoided exposure to mainstream media reports. On the other hand, it is possible that watching and reading news reports about the virus plays an important role in building young people's confidence in the public health measures implemented to contain the spread of infection, effectively alleviating uncertainty and concern about its impact. As the rate of transmission and positive cases were fairly low in Australia at the time of the survey, it would be interesting to investigate the role of media exposure further by looking at relationships with adolescent mental health in countries experiencing high rates of transmission and infection, and comparing the findings to those in the current study.

The media also communicates important health information, which may serve to give adolescents a sense of control over what they need to do to avoid contracting the virus, which may also reduce anxiety. Indeed, the current study found those who adhered more closely to government stay-at-home orders reported fewer mental health problems than those who frequently defied them. This is consistent with previous research which also found an association between that taking precautionary measures (e.g., staying at home, wearing a mask) to avoid contracting the virus and lower levels of depression and anxiety (Wang et al. 2020). As with all of the current results, the casual relationship may flow in either direction. On the one hand, these results may suggest that disseminating health information and encouraging adherence to government advice through the media may be an effective way of not only reducing the spread of COVID-19, but also in stabilizing levels of generalized anxiety. On the other hand, the results may suggest that young people who become more distressed by the effects of COVID-19, may be at greater risk to break socially-described precautions, and in turn, may jeopardize their and others' health.

Limitations and Future Directions

The current study has a number of strengths and limitations. First, this study overcomes many of the limitations of previous research by employing a longitudinal design to allow determination of change in mental health symptoms before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, despite the longitudinal data collection on mental health, it is not possible to attribute any changes specifically to the effects of COVID-19 as there was no comparison condition. Similarly, the time two mental health measures and COVID-19 related factors were assessed concurrently, so while it was possible to ascertain that these factors were associated with increases or decreases in mental health, the direction of those associations cannot be determined. Employing alternative methods such as ecological momentary assessment or daily diaries may help to clarify the temporal ordering between social, educational, and emotional experiences during the pandemic and adolescents' mental health. Further, the data were all self-report and thus are subject to bias that may not align with more objective assessments of mental health and behaviors. To address this limitation, future research could incorporate parent and teacher reports of adolescents' adjustment during the COVID-19 pandemic. Finally, the sample used in the current study was relatively small and demographically restricted. The sample was predominately of Caucasian ethnicity and included participants within a restricted age range, and perhaps most importantly for a study of the impacts of COVID-19, data were collected within a single country (Australia) and it cannot be ensured that the results are generalizable to adolescents from other countries that differed widely in rates of infection and severity of government-imposed restrictions.

Implications

While keeping these limitations in mind, several speculative implications can be suggested. First, although it is difficult to disentangle whether the changes in mental health found in the current study are the direct result of anxieties around contracting the virus, or the restrictions put in place to contain it, the current results suggest the latter. Adolescents' concerns around catching and becoming ill from the virus were relatively low whereas difficulties adjusting to the new restrictions placed on social activities and schooling as a result of COVID-19 moderated changes in mental health. Therefore, finding new ways to help adolescents adapt and cope with the changes to their social and physical environment is essential. Ensuring that adolescents, particularly girls, maintain their peer relationships seems especially important, and both parents and teachers should encourage social engagement whenever and however possible, within the confines of government and health guidelines.

In addition, since early changes in symptoms of psychopathology may serve as an antecedent for the onset of chronic mental illness, it is important for parents and school staff to monitor young people for elevated emotional distress and to guide them into early intervention and treatment programs where necessary. It is also recommended that parents and teachers create positive and supportive home and learning environments, both of which have previously been shown to lower levels of internalizing distress in adolescents even when isolated physically from peers (Ellis et al. 2020; Manczak et al. 2019).

Finally, and encouragingly, learning exclusively online did not appear to impact adolescents' mental health, whereas difficulties encountered during online learning did. This demonstrates that adolescents can be resilient and adaptive when needed, as long as they are equipped with the necessary tools and support they require. Most of the online learning difficulties reported were modifiable and related to problems concerning technology, the understanding of learning materials, and being unable to ask the teacher for clarification. Implementing regular question and answer sessions throughout each lesson, finding creative ways to engage students during their online classes, and ensuring students have access to adequate technology may help overcome some of these most common problems, and as a consequence, reduce depressive symptoms associated with online learning difficulties.

Conclusion

Due to the recency of the COVID-19 pandemic, there is very limited research on its psychological consequences, and no research examining the prospective impact of the virus, and its related restrictions, on the emotional health of adolescents. Thus, this research contributes to the existing literature by demonstrating longitudinal declines in the mental health of adolescents, especially among girls, when comparing pre-pandemic to intra-pandemic levels. The current study contributes further by identifying which COVID-19 related factors served to increase or decrease the risk of adolescents developing mental health problems during the pandemic. Specifically, COVID-19 related worries, difficulties with online learning, and increased family conflict were associated with greater psychological maladjustment. In contrast, greater exposure to traditional media, adherence to government restrictions, and feeling socially connected with others was associated with less distress. Consistent with theory highlighting the importance of peers during the adolescent period, the results showed that adolescents' greatest concerns during the COVID-19 crisis were around the disruption to their social interactions and activities, whereas concerns around contracting or getting ill from the virus were very low. This suggests that it is the restrictions put in place to reduce the spread of the virus, rather than the virus itself, that is causing adolescents the most distress. As social isolation, interpersonal stress, and mental health problems during adolescence can be a precursor for mental health problems across the lifespan, parents and teachers are encouraged to assist adolescents in finding ways to maintain their social networks, monitor young people for signs of emotional distress, provide positive and supportive home and learning environments, and engage with mental health professionals early. Finally, as research on the mental health impact of COVID-19 is still in its infancy, more longitudinal research is needed to gain a greater understanding of the long term implications of this pandemic on the emotional wellbeing of young people.

Acknowledgements

The authors extend their gratitude to the many research assistants on the RAW project for carrying out the extensive data collection required for this project and the interns who assisted in the coding of the data sets.

Author's Contributions

N.R.M. conceived of the study, prepared the study materials, analyzed the results, and drafted the manuscript; J.Y.A.F. helped with the development of the study materials, the coordination of the data collection, and assisted with the data analysis; R.M.R. participated in the study design and helped draft the manuscript; C.E.R. helped design the study and draft the manuscript; E.L.O. helped design the study materials, prepare the data, and draft the manuscript; and J.F. helped design the study materials and draft the manuscript. All authors have read and approved the submitted manuscript.

Funding

The Australian Research Council funded this research (grant number FL150100096).

Data Sharing and Declaration

The datasets generated and/or analyzed during the current study are not publicly available but are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

Author information

Affiliations

1. Centre for Emotional Health, Department of Psychology, Macquarie University, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

Natasha R. Magson, Justin Y. A. Freeman, Ronald M. Rapee, Cele E. Richardson, Ella L. Oar & Jasmine Fardouly

2. School of Psychological Science, University of Western Australia, Perth, Western Australia, Australia

Cele E. Richardson

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Natasha R. Magson.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of Interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

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Magson, N.R., Freeman, J.Y.A., Rapee, R.M. et al. Risk and Protective Factors for Prospective Changes in Adolescent Mental Health during the COVID-19 Pandemic. J Youth Adolescence 50, 44-57 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-020-01332-9
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Keywords

Adolescence

COVID-19

Depressive symptoms

Anxiety

Life satisfaction

Longitudinal

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Risk and Protective Factors for Prospective Changes in Adolescent Mental Health during the COVID-19 Pandemic

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The restrictions put in place to contain the COVID-19 virus have led to widespread social isolation, impacting mental health worldwide. These restrictions may be particularly difficult for adolescents, who rely heavily on their peer connections for emotional support. However, there has been no longitudinal research examining the psychological impact of the COVID-19 pandemic among adolescents.

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Corona pandemic has affected every aspect of human life including children. Whether it's the mental health, physical health or a combination of both - the children have had their own share of health problems during this pandemic phase.

Increasing eyesight problems with frequent headaches are attributed to prolonged screen time. In addition, increasing anxiety and depression due to home confinement along with sleep disorders are also on the rise.

Children attending online classes at home are not bound to have classroom professionalism. Hence, their physical health is deteriorating too in many aspects.

1. Poor ergonomics: Unlike classrooms, the children are not bound to follow good ergonomics at home. Taking online classes on bed and sofas are one of the commonest reasons that we can attribute to recent rise on back pains or fibromyalgic pains.

2. Lack of physical activities: Obesity in children is on the rise either due to lack of outdoor physical activities or due to binge eating and easy availability of junk food at home.

Children are losing their muscle mass and adding fat which is going to affect their growth. Research has shown that the more physically active a child is during the growing period the better is their physical and mental health for the next 3-4 decades of life.

Children by being physically inactive are also losing their muscle tone thereby finding it very difficult to cope up with sports when they resume in future due to muscle rigidity.

Physical activities play a large role in Calcium and Vitamin D levels of the body. Deficiencies are on the rise in recent times in children and their reasons are very obvious

1. Deficiencies of Calcium and Vitamin D: Apart from lack of physical activity, lack of sunlight exposure and poor diet also contributes to Calcium and Vitamin D deficiencies. Muscle cramps, spasms and strains/tears are common with trivial injuries / bad postures when a child is having severe deficiencies

2. Injuries: Increasing number of injuries in children in recent times is either due to trivial injuries or due to over-enthusiasm and desperation of being isolated at home. Every child wants to get outdoors and their fitness is significantly poor due to the lockdown.

Parents need to be cautious as well as to make sure that their children remain fit and healthy

Wearing face masks, social distancing and emphasis on personal hygiene are a must for all of us

Create a classroom atmosphere at home to respect and maintain professionalism and good ergonomics

Set screen time for mobiles and tabs after class hours and encourage children to avoid electronic devices

Healthy muscles need good hydration and healthy food habits. Keep away from binge eating and junk foods

30-45 minutes of sunlight exposure with a minimum of 1-1.5 hours of exertional/rigorous physical activity like Gym/aerobics/Yoga's or outdoor physical activities whenever feasible is a must for all growing children

And lastly, parents need to set examples for their children

Dr. Rajendra Reddy, Sr. Consultant Orthopaedic and deformity correction Surgeon, Narayana Multispeciality Hospital, HSR Layout

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Effect of Online Classes on Children's physical health

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Corona pandemic has affected every aspect of human life including children. Whether it's the mental health, physical health or a combination of both - the children have had their own share of health problems during this pandemic phase. Increasing eyesight problems with frequent headaches are attr

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Increased digital screen time during COVID-19 may accelerate myopia epidemic.