Investigating the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on older adolescents’ psychological wellbeing and self-identified cognitive difficulties

Key points

There is growing concern regarding the detrimental impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on young people's mental health and wellbeing.

Older adolescents are vulnerable to the onset of emotional difficulties and have faced a particular set of pandemic-related challenges.

This study demonstrates the detrimental impact of the pandemic on older adolescents' psychological wellbeing and crucially, supports a clear and stable pattern of association between anxiety and self-identified cognitive difficulties in this age group (a novel finding).

These findings have implications for both our theoretical understanding of adolescent anxiety and assessment and intervention approaches for vulnerable young people.


Abstract

Background
The COVID-19 pandemic coincides with growing concern regarding the mental health of young people. Older adolescents have faced a particular set of pandemic-related challenges and demonstrate heightened vulnerability to affective disorders (particularly anxiety). Anxiety symptoms are associated with a range of cognitive difficulties. Older adolescents may therefore be susceptible to pandemic-related declines in wellbeing and associated cognitive difficulties.

Methods
At three timepoints, independent samples of young people aged 16–18 years (N = 607, 242, 618 respectively) completed an online survey. Data collection coincided with periods of lockdown (timepoints 1 and 3) and young people returning to school (timepoint 2). The survey assessed subjective impacts of the pandemic on overall wellbeing, anxiety and cognitive function.

Results
Findings demonstrated the detrimental impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on older adolescents' psychological wellbeing—a finding that was consistent across samples. The majority of young people at each timepoint experienced heightened anxiety. Crucially, pandemic-related anxiety was associated with self-identified cognitive difficulties, a pattern of association that was evident at all three timepoints. The nature and extent of these difficulties were predictive of specific pandemic-related concerns in this age group.

Conclusions
Older adolescents' experiences of the pandemic are characterised by subjective declines in wellbeing and stable patterns of association between anxiety and self-identified cognitive difficulties. Implications are discussed with reference to future research and intervention.