Examining the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on mental health in adolescents

Bachelor Thesis from the year 2023 in the subject Psychology - Miscellaneous, University of South Australia, language: English, abstract: This study contributes to the expanding body of research on the psychological impacts of pandemic-related restrictions by investigating the effects of lockdowns on the mood of young and older adolescents. Employing a moderation-mediation analysis framework, we explore how social support and coping strategies mediate and moderate the relationships between lockdown duration and mood, while controlling for socioeconomic status (SES). Our findings reveal intriguing distinctions between the two age groups. For younger adolescents (12-14 years), coping significantly moderates the relationship between lockdown and social support. However, social support does not mediate the lockdown-mood link for this age group. Contrarily, for older adolescents (15-18 years), social support emerges as a significant mediator of the lockdown-mood relationship, albeit with no significant moderation by coping. These results emphasize the importance of tailored interventions and support systems for distinct adolescent age groups during pandemic-related restrictions.