Gender-Specific Changes in Life Satisfaction After the COVID-19-Related Lockdown in Dutch Adolescents: A Longitudinal Study

Purpose: The purposes of this study were to assess whether mental well-being has changed after introduction of the lockdown measures compared with that before, whether this change differs between boys and girls, and whether this change is associated with COVID-19–related concerns. Methods: This is a two-wave prospective study among Dutch adolescents using data collected up to one year before the COVID-19 pandemic (n = 224) and 5–8 weeks after the first introduction of lockdown measures (n = 158). Mental well-being was assessed by three indicators: life satisfaction, internalizing symptoms, and... Mehr ...

Verfasser: van der Laan, Sabine E I
Finkenauer, Catrin
Lenters, Virissa C
van Harmelen, Anne-Laura
van der Ent, Cornelis K
Nijhof, Sanne L
Dokumenttyp: Artikel
Erscheinungsdatum: 2021
Schlagwörter: Adolescents / COVID-19 pandemic / Mental well-being / Pediatrics / Perinatology / and Child Health / Public Health / Environmental and Occupational Health / Psychiatry and Mental health
Sprache: Englisch
Permalink: https://search.fid-benelux.de/Record/base-29455715
Datenquelle: BASE; Originalkatalog
Powered By: BASE
Link(s) : https://dspace.library.uu.nl/handle/1874/412893

Purpose: The purposes of this study were to assess whether mental well-being has changed after introduction of the lockdown measures compared with that before, whether this change differs between boys and girls, and whether this change is associated with COVID-19–related concerns. Methods: This is a two-wave prospective study among Dutch adolescents using data collected up to one year before the COVID-19 pandemic (n = 224) and 5–8 weeks after the first introduction of lockdown measures (n = 158). Mental well-being was assessed by three indicators: life satisfaction, internalizing symptoms, and psychosomatic health. General linear model repeated-measures analysis of variance was used to assess whether mental well-being has changed and if this differed by sex. Univariate linear regressions were used to assess associations between COVID-19–related concerns and a change in mental well-being. Results: Life satisfaction decreased (η2p = .079, p < .001), but no change in internalizing symptoms was observed (η2p = .014, p = .14), and psychosomatic health increased (η2p = .194, p < .001) after the introduction of lockdown measures. Boys scored significantly better on all mental health indicators compared with girls at baseline and follow-up. However, boys' life satisfaction significantly decreased at the follow-up (η2p = .038, p = .015), whereas girls' life satisfaction did not change. Concerns about COVID-19 were significantly associated with a lower life satisfaction and more internalizing symptoms. Conclusions: Adolescents', especially boys', life satisfaction decreased during the lockdown. They reported no change in internalizing symptoms and an improved psychosomatic health. Adolescents' mental well-being is expected to vary during the COVID-19 pandemic and should continue to be monitored.