Search

COVID-19 has significant impacts on young peoples’ lives and emotions. Understanding how young people maintain well-being in the face of challenges can inform future mental health intervention development. Here we applied network analysis to well-being data gathered from 2532 young people (12-25 years) residing in the UK during the COVID-19 pandemic to identify the structure across well-being and crucially, its central defining features. Gender and age differences in networks were also investigated. Across all participants, items emerged in two clusters: 1) optimism, positive self-perception, and social connectedness, and 2) processing problems and ideas. The two central features of well-being were: “I’ve been dealing with problems well” and “I’ve been thinking clearly”. There were minimal age and gender differences. Our findings suggest that the perception of being able to process problems and ideas efficiently could be a hallmark of well-being, particularly in the face of challenging circumstances. These findings contrast with pre-pandemic studies that point to positive affect as central aspects of well-being networks. Future interventions that encourage problem-solving and mental flexibility could be useful in helping young people maintain well-being during times of stress and uncertainty.

Background Difficulties with prospective mental images are associated with adolescent depression. Current treatments mainly focus on verbal techniques to reduce negative affect (e.g. low mood) rather than enhancing positive affect, despite anhedonia being present in adolescents. We investigated the concurrent relationships between the vividness of negative and positive prospective mental imagery and negative affect and positive affect; and examined whether negative and positive prospective mental imagery moderated the impact of recent stress (COVID-19-linked stress) on negative and positive affect. Methods 2602 young people (12–25 years) completed the Prospective Imagery Task and self-reported on symptoms of negative affect, anhedonia and COVID-19 linked stress. Results Elevated vividness of negative future mental imagery and reduced vividness of positive future mental imagery were associated with increased negative affect, whereas only reduced vividness of positive future imagery was associated with increased symptoms of anhedonia. Elevated vividness of negative future images amplified the association between COVID-19 linked stress and negative affect, while elevated vividness of positive future images attenuated the association between COVID-19 linked stress and anhedonia. Conclusions Future mental imagery may be differentially associated with negative and positive affect, but this needs to be replicated in clinical populations to support novel adolescent psychological treatments.

The COVID-19 pandemic continues to pose unprecedented threat globally. Adolescents and youth may be especially susceptible to the long-term impact of these stressors, thus intervening early is an important priority. However, it is also crucial to understand how young people maintain psychological well-being in the face of adversity, particularly given that many nations are experiencing further waves of the pandemic. The understanding of such resilient outcomes could inform the development of programs to encourage positive mental health.We explored adolescents' resilience to the COVID-19 pandemic stress by examining core aspects of well-being across countries using network analysis. Using the short Warwick–Edinburgh Mental Wellbeing Scale, cross-sectional data was collected online from adolescents from India (N = 310; Males = 159, Females = 151, aged 12–18 years), Israel (N = 306; Males = 154, Females = 152, aged 12–18 years) and the United Kingdom (UK; N = 1666; Males = 598, Females = 1068, aged 12–25 years). Two highly similar network clusters were identified for UK and Israel, with three clusters emerging for India. UK and Israeli networks centred on “dealing with problems well” while the Indian network centred on “feeling useful”. As central items highlight aspects of well-being that influence or are influenced by other aspects, these findings may inform interventions to safeguard adolescent mental health during future phases of the pandemic.