TY - JOUR
T1 - The Impact of School Reopening on Chinese Adolescents' Mental Health During COVID-19
T2 - Considering the Role of Academic Stress and Academic Orientation
AU - Cai, Tianying
AU - Li, Xiaoru
AU - Chen, Sijia
AU - Wang, Xiaoyuan
AU - Liu, Yichun
AU - Zhang, Keqin
AU - Wu, Guohong
AU - Qu, Yang
PY - 2024/10
Y1 - 2024/10
N2 - Purpose: Existing studies found that school closure during the COVID-19 pandemic negatively influenced adolescents' mental health. Yet, it remains unclear how adolescent mental health changed during the transition of school reopening as well as the academic-related risk and protective factors. Methods: Immediately before (April 2020) and three months (July 2020) after school reopening, 879 adolescents in Shanghai, China (mean age = 13.14 years, standard deviation = 1.31, 51% girls) completed online surveys and reported on their mental health (i.e., depressive symptoms, anxiety symptoms, and anger problems). Adolescents also reported perceived academic stress and academic orientations (i.e., performance orientation and mastery orientation) before school reopening. Results: Adolescents reported decreased depressive symptoms, anxiety symptoms, and anger problems three months after school reopening. Adolescents who reported higher perceived academic stress and performance orientation showed elevated mental health symptoms after school reopening, whereas those reported higher mastery orientation showed decreased anger problems. Higher mastery orientation buffered the negative influence of academic stress on mental health. Discussion: The findings not only demonstrate the positive influence of school reopening on Chinese adolescents' mental health but also highlight the role of perceived academic stress and academic orientations in contributing to individual differences during this transition. © 2024 Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine.
AB - Purpose: Existing studies found that school closure during the COVID-19 pandemic negatively influenced adolescents' mental health. Yet, it remains unclear how adolescent mental health changed during the transition of school reopening as well as the academic-related risk and protective factors. Methods: Immediately before (April 2020) and three months (July 2020) after school reopening, 879 adolescents in Shanghai, China (mean age = 13.14 years, standard deviation = 1.31, 51% girls) completed online surveys and reported on their mental health (i.e., depressive symptoms, anxiety symptoms, and anger problems). Adolescents also reported perceived academic stress and academic orientations (i.e., performance orientation and mastery orientation) before school reopening. Results: Adolescents reported decreased depressive symptoms, anxiety symptoms, and anger problems three months after school reopening. Adolescents who reported higher perceived academic stress and performance orientation showed elevated mental health symptoms after school reopening, whereas those reported higher mastery orientation showed decreased anger problems. Higher mastery orientation buffered the negative influence of academic stress on mental health. Discussion: The findings not only demonstrate the positive influence of school reopening on Chinese adolescents' mental health but also highlight the role of perceived academic stress and academic orientations in contributing to individual differences during this transition. © 2024 Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine.
KW - Academic stress
KW - Mastery orientation
KW - Mental health
KW - Performance orientation
KW - School reopening
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85199212556&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - https://www.scopus.com/record/pubmetrics.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85199212556&origin=recordpage
U2 - 10.1016/j.jadohealth.2024.05.011
DO - 10.1016/j.jadohealth.2024.05.011
M3 - RGC 21 - Publication in refereed journal
SN - 1054-139X
VL - 75
SP - 560
EP - 568
JO - Journal of Adolescent Health
JF - Journal of Adolescent Health
IS - 4
ER -