ERIC Number: EJ1311208
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2021-Sep
Pages: 8
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-2578-4218
EISSN: N/A
Social and Psychological Effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Middle-School Students: Attendance Options and Changes over Time
Walters, Glenn D.; Runell, Lindsey; Kremser, Jon
School Psychology, v36 n5 p277-284 Sep 2021
The purpose of this study was to determine whether restrictions put in place during the COVID-19 pandemic affected the social and psychological well-being of early adolescent schoolchildren. Participants were 309 youth (51% female, average age = 12.38 years) enrolled in the sixth, seventh, or eighth grades of a single middle school located in northeastern Pennsylvania, a state that took a moderately proactive approach to the pandemic. Employing a cross-sectional design, students in three instructional conditions (100% in-person, hybrid, 100% online) were compared on nine outcome measures (perceived parental support, perceived parental knowledge, peer deviance, neutralization, cognitive impulsivity, depression, delinquency, bullying victimization, and bullying perpetration). There were no significant between-groups differences, although there was a borderline significant effect for depression (100% online >100% in-person, p = .06). A second set of analyses employed a longitudinal design and compared 174 children who completed the test battery in November 2019, 3 months before the start of the pandemic, and then again in November 2020, 9 months after the start of the pandemic. Three out of nine outcomes displayed significant change: A small reduction in parental support and modest increments in neutralization beliefs and cognitive impulsivity. Although there were no statistically significant differences between the three instructional conditions and only a handful of relatively small and predictable longitudinal changes between November 2019 and November 2020, there were a fair number of individual students who experienced moderate ([more than or equal to] 50%) increases in depression (17.6%), cognitive impulsivity (15.8%), and bullying victimization (11.7%).
Descriptors: COVID-19, Pandemics, School Closing, Middle School Students, Grade 6, Grade 7, Grade 8, Online Courses, Conventional Instruction, Blended Learning, Parent Attitudes, Knowledge Level, Peer Influence, Conceptual Tempo, Depression (Psychology), Delinquency, Bullying, Victims, Student Behavior, Psychological Patterns
American Psychological Association. Journals Department, 750 First Street NE, Washington, DC 20002. Tel: 800-374-2721; Tel: 202-336-5510; Fax: 202-336-5502; e-mail: order@apa.org; Web site: http://www.apa.org
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Junior High Schools; Middle Schools; Secondary Education; Elementary Education; Grade 6; Intermediate Grades; Grade 7; Grade 8
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Pennsylvania
Identifiers - Assessments and Surveys: Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A