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COVID-19 was a novel stressor that gave rise to pandemic related anxiety and increased the risk of mental health issues, particularly in youth. It is important to understand how such events contribute to psychological distress in young people to adequately intervene in the aftermath and to plan for future similar events. Using cross-sectional data from the CoSPACE Ireland study dataset this paper reports on the predictive relationship between COVID-19 anxiety and psychological distress for Irish adolescents (N = 314, M = 14.05, SD = 2.7, 11-18 years), while controlling for other influencing factors across multiple levels of a bioecological systems approach. Covariates were age, gender, ethnicity, social economic status, Peer Support, School Support and Parent-Child Closeness. Findings indicate that COVID-19 anxiety was a significant predictor of adolescents' psychological distress. Specifically, Consequence Anxiety (worries about the indirect consequences of COVID-19) was found to be a predictor of adolescents' psychological distress rather than Disease Anxiety (worries about the COVID-19 virus itself). Individual factors (e.g., age, ethnicity, special educational needs) and microsystem factors (e.g., parent child closeness, peer support) were also found to impact on adolescents' levels of psychological distress. A significant moderation analysis revealed that greater parent-child closeness reduced the strength of the positive association between Consequence Anxiety and psychological distress. These findings suggest that strategies to alleviate adolescents' psychological distress during pandemics should focus on reducing pandemic-related anxiety, specifically Consequence Anxiety. A multisystemic approach is also recommended to reduce the negative mental health impacts of the pandemic on adolescents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Help‐line services provide a vital support to individuals experiencing mental or personal crisis. Recent years has seen a rise in both text‐based services as well as remote working conditions for those who offer help‐line services. Previous research has demonstrated positive and negative outcomes for individuals voluntarily offering support at crisis‐line services. However, few studies have focused on the mechanisms at work. The social identity approach offers one potential avenue for exploration. Specifically, individuals who meaningfully identify as a volunteer can unlock the benefits of the social cure. However, this pathway has not been tested for volunteers in remote working environments. The current study tested associations between identification with a crisis support organisation, well‐being outcomes, perceptions of social‐support, and self‐efficacy in remote text‐based services. This study collected data from 157 crisis‐support line volunteers in two remote‐working contexts. Results indicated a serial mediated indirect effect. Specifically, increased identification as a volunteer predicted increased perceptions of social support. In addition, social support predicted higher levels of self‐efficacy, resulting in increased levels of compassion satisfaction along with decreased levels of burnout, and secondary traumatic stress. Results emphasise the role of social identity and perceptions of social support in promoting positive outcomes for remote‐working volunteers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]