Title
The Mental Health Impacts of COVID-19 on PK-12 Students: A Systematic Review of Emerging Literature
Document Type
Article
Abstract
The mental health impact of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic on PK-12 youth is likely an urgent and enduring concern, yet research on this topic is still emerging. To synthesize current knowledge, the researchers conducted a systematic review of empirical studies exploring the mental health impacts of COVID-19. Five themes emerged across 104 included studies: (a) the pandemic proved widely disruptive to PK-12 youth; (b) there was a clear connection between the mental health of caregivers (e.g., parents) and children; (c) the pandemic broadly increased levels of stress, anxiety, and depression in PK-12 youth; (d) students were particularly affected on the basis of age, gender, race/ethnicity, socioeconomic status, and previous mental health or disability diagnosis; and (e) youth demonstrated negative and positive coping strategies and even saw some positive mental health outcomes during the pandemic. Implications for research, practice, and policy are discussed.; The mental health impact of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic on PK-12 youth is likely an urgent and enduring concern, yet research on this topic is still emerging. To synthesize current knowledge, the researchers conducted a systematic review of empirical studies exploring the mental health impacts of COVID-19. Five themes emerged across 104 included studies: (a) the pandemic proved widely disruptive to PK-12 youth; (b) there was a clear connection between the mental health of caregivers (e.g., parents) and children; (c) the pandemic broadly increased levels of stress, anxiety, and depression in PK-12 youth; (d) students were particularly affected on the basis of age, gender, race/ethnicity, socioeconomic status, and previous mental health or disability diagnosis; and (e) youth demonstrated negative and positive coping strategies and even saw some positive mental health outcomes during the pandemic. Implications for research, practice, and policy are discussed.
Copyright Statement
Publisher PDF
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License
Repository Citation
Naff, David; Williams, Shenita; Furman-Darby, Jenna; and Yeung, Melissa, "The Mental Health Impacts of COVID-19 on PK-12 Students: A Systematic Review of Emerging Literature" (2022). School of Physical Therapy Faculty Publications. 9.
https://scholarworks.bgsu.edu/physical_therapy_pub/9
Publication Date
2022
Publication Title
AERA Open
Publisher
SAGE
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1177/23328584221084722
Volume
8
Issue
1
Start Page No.
1
End Page No.
40