Search

The devastation of the Covid-19 pandemic on society raised the question of how best to gauge society's psychological adaptation to continually evolving global disruptor events, such as Covid-19. This paper aims to illustrate the use of different approaches to monitor society's psychological response to Covid-19, in order to argue for a more comprehensive, multi-model, approach. The results from different approaches are presented in two studies employing measures of mental disorders and mental distress, respectively, using South African samples for demonstration. The first study presents findings from repeat administration of measures of common mental disorders (major depressive and generalized anxiety disorders) across three consecutive years, while the second study presents findings from mood response profiles (measured with the Brunel Mood Scale) collected across five time points during the Covid-19 pandemic. Both studies showed that the Covid-19 pandemic was temporally associated with adverse mental health outcomes across the mental health continuum, and that mental health profiles were associated with both time since onset of Covid-19 and subsequent wave occurrence. Elevated prevalence of common mental disorders, as well as fluctuating patterns of mood response profiles, are discussed against the context of Covid-19. The paper concludes that a multi-modal approach, for instance measuring specific mental disorders as well as more general mental distress, is crucial to comprehensively understand society's psychological adaptation to major disruptor events, and guide health sector responses. The paper serves as a reminder to continue to observe mental health more inclusively to appropriately respond to the psychological needs of communities. Plain Language Summary: Measuring mental health across Covid-19 waves The impact of Covid-19 on mental health raised the question of how can we best measure how society adapts, psychologically, to major events that disrupt life. This article looked at two specific ways to measure and monitor society's psychological response to Covid-19. The first study looked at the prevalence of mental disorders, and the second looked at levels of mental distress. Both studies used South African samples to demonstrate this. The first study presented data from a repeat administration of scales that identify depressive and anxiety disorders, completed across three consecutive years. The second study presented findings from mood response profiles (measured with the Brunel Mood Scale) collected across five time points during the Covid-19 pandemic. The results showed that the pandemic was associated with adverse mental health outcomes—across the mental health continuum—and that mental health profiles were associated with both time since the start of Covid-19 and fluctuated with the subsequent waves across the pandemic time-line. This article demonstrated the importance of using a multi-modal approach to fully understand society's psychological response to major life disruptions. It also acted as reminder to monitor mental health continuously to be able to respond to the psychological needs of communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of this paper was to examine the school-related experiences of youth during the COVID-19 pandemic. Participants represented both clinical and community youth aged 14 to 28 who were sampled as part of a larger study. Feedback from youth attending school during the pandemic was qualitatively examined and youth who planned to attend school prior to the pandemic and did (n = 246) and youth who planned to attend but did not (n = 28) were compared quantitatively. Youth appreciated the flexibility of online learning and some also reported experiencing a lack of support from their school and the need for instructor training on how to deliver virtual classes effectively. Future studies should examine what factors influence student engagement with virtual learning, what strategies could improve supports for student in their long-term career development, and the longitudinal experiences of youth who may have chosen not to go back to school due to the pandemic. This survey was conducted in Ontario, Canada. A more diverse sample collected outside of Ontario would improve generalizability. Qualitative data were based on survey responses and not interviews. Thus we were unable to discern the reasons youth decided to attend school, or not, during the COVID-19 pandemic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]