05. Children and Youth at Risk and Urban Education
Paper
Anxiety and Feelings of Loneliness Among Primary and Secondary School Students in Austria: Prevalence and Influencing Factors
Franziska Reitegger1, Barbara Gasteiger-Klicpera1,2
1University of Graz, Austria; 2Research Center for Inclusive Education Graz, Austria
Presenting Author: Reitegger, Franziska
The negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on mental health of children and adolescents is internationally widely reported. Meta-analyses pointed out that the global pooled prevalence of psychological disorders for children and adolescents not affected by mental health problems before the pandemic was 20.95 % (Raccanello et al., 2022). High rates of anxiety were especially significant (Loades et al., 2020) and prevalence rates for anxiety in youth varied globally from 2-74 % (Hossain et al., 2022). By now, it has also been found that the increase in symptoms did not change when examined longitudinally (Samji et al., 2022). Therefore, further worsening of mental problems must be assumed in the long-term course (Kauhanen et al., 2022).
Since anxiety is a multifaceted construct, the type of anxiety evolved is of high relevance. Regarding social anxiety the assumptions could be mixed. Social Anxiety may have increased during the pandemic since fewer or no opportunities for social interactions were offered. On the other side social anxiety also may have decreased since social pressures decreased. Generalized anxiety may have increased due to the pandemic and various other negative global events (Barendse et al., 2022). Besides feelings of generalized anxiety, many students were also found to be affected by COVID-19 related anxiety (Krammer et al., 2022). The most cited pandemic-related fear was that of contracting the virus themselves or fearing that a loved one might be infected (Samji et al., 2022).
Internalizing symptoms like social anxiety and loneliness show conceptual similarities and often co-occur, (Danneel et al., 2020). In fact, loneliness was one of the most common experienced feelings during the pandemic (Jamil et al., 2022). The comorbidity of social anxiety and loneliness is associated with a higher amount of social and academic difficulties as well as with greater life-dissatisfaction, increased sensitivity for social threat and social withdrawal (Danneel et al., 2020).
Meta-analyses identified risk and protective factors for child and adolescent mental health during times of covid-19. Female gender has been consistently identified as a risk factor for anxiety (e.g. Samji et al., 2022), but when it comes to loneliness, contradictory results can be found. Some studies (e.g. Kayaoglu & Bascillar ,2022) identified female gender as a risk factor while others could not find differences in the mean levels of loneliness between boys and girls (Danneel et al., 2020).
Also regarding the age groups different results were found. Some studies pointed out that older children and adolescents experienced higher stress levels, more frequent anxiety, worries and feelings of loneliness (Kavaoglu & Bascillar, 2022; Samji et al., 2022) Contrarily, other studies reported that younger individuals exhibited higher psychopathological symptoms of anxiety and loneliness across all assessment waves (Benke et al., 2022).
Therefore, it is of great necessity to not only look carefully at the specific types and frequency of children's and adolescents' fears in times of global exceptional situations such as the pandemic, but also to shed light on risk and protective factors of the population. This is necessary to develop appropriate prevention and intervention strategies to protect children and adolescents and to support their healthy development.
This paper aims at identifying differences in students’ self-reported loneliness, generalized, social and covid-related anxiety symptoms and exploring explanatory approaches. Accordingly, the following research questions are addressed:
- What anxieties and levels of loneliness do Austrian students report in times of COVID-19?
- What are the differences and relationships between self-reported anxieties, loneliness and individual and socio-economic/family-related factors of students in Austria?
- To what extend can individual and socio-economic/family-related factors explain the differences in self-reported anxieties and loneliness from students in times of COVID-19?
Methodology, Methods, Research Instruments or Sources UsedThe present study was part of a larger project exploring the challenges and possibilities due to the pandemic in a representative sample of eighteen primary and eleven secondary schools in Styria, a federal state of Austria. A mixed-method design considering different perspectives was used: the view of teachers, school principals, parents and students. For the present study, the perspective of students and parents is of particular relevance, which was explored by a cross-sectional online (students) and paper-pencil (parents) survey conducted from April to June 2021. A team of trained researchers administered the online questionnaire with the students during one school lesson. Parents received a paper-pencil questionnaire together with the request for informed consent for the participation of their children in the study. Data were collected from a representative sample of 504 students (50.2 % girls; 49.8 % boys, aged 8-15) from primary (n=269) and secondary schools (n=235). Additionally, data from 449 parents/guardians of the students aged 26-64 years (M=41.03, SD=5.77) were collected.
The Parents-questionnaire included questions about socio-economic and family-related factors (e.g. migration background, highest education-level and family-climate). At the beginning of the students-online-questionnaire, they were asked about their gender and age. To identify anxiety-related problems, two scales in reduced form of the German “Screening for Child Anxiety Related Disorders” (SCARED-D, Birmaher et al., 1999) were used. The first scale “Social Phobia” consisted of six Items (e.g. I don’t like to be with people I don’t know well), the second scale “Generalized Anxiety Disorder” consisted of five Items (e.g. I am someone who worries a lot) and could be answered on a five-point Likert scale (1=don’t agree; 5=agree exactly). Cronbach’s alpha in the present study for the whole scale (11 items) was .84, and for both subscales .77. Two items were implemented to measure the frequency of corona-related anxiety (e.g. During the past few months I have been worried about the Coronavirus), which could be answered on a six-point Likert Scale (1=all the time; 6=never; 𝛼 =.73). To examine students’ experiences of loneliness, a scale by Gasteiger-Klicpera and Klicpera (2003) was used, consisting of six Items (e.g. I have no one to talk to in class.) and could be answered on a five-point Likert scale (1= not true, 5=exactly true; 𝛼 =.83).
Statistical analyses were performed using IBM SPSS Statistics 28. Mean differences were tested with multivariate analyses and Pearson correlations were calculated to analyze correlation hypotheses.
Conclusions, Expected Outcomes or FindingsPreliminary findings from item-based frequency-analyses showed, that in terms of social anxiety (M=2.86, SD=.95) 41% of the students reported that it was rather/exactly true that they did not like to be with people they did not know well and 39.4 % reported that it was rather/exactly true that they were nervous when they had to do something while being watched. Regarding generalized anxiety (M=2.69, SD=.99) 32.8 % of the students reported, that it was rather/exactly true that they worried about the future and 31.3 % that it was rather/exactly true that they worried about things that already happened.
Compared to this, students were less likely to report school-related feelings of loneliness (M=1.58, SD=.74). In terms of covid-related fears, students reported that they had higher fears about a family-member contracting COVID-19 during the last months (M=2.56, SD=1.76) than worrying about the virus in general (M=3.07, SD=1.98). This is in line with international findings from Samji et al. (2022).
Initial analysis of possible differences in the reported scores by individual factors revealed that female students reported significantly higher scores than male students regarding social anxiety symptoms (p=.01). With respect to corona-specific worries, male students were found to score significantly higher than female students (p=.01). First correlation analyses about relationships between anxiety, loneliness and socio-economic/individual factors showed a highly significant positive correlation between feelings of loneliness and the students age (p=.01) and a highly significant negative correlation with the parents’ education level (p=.05).
A more detailed analysis will be conducted to identify further differences and correlations to draw further conclusions on whether the changed life situation, caused by the pandemic, also results in a change of risk and protective factors for anxiety in childhood and adolescence.
ReferencesBarendse, M. E. A., et al. (2022). Longitudinal Change in Adolescent Depression and Anxiety Symptoms from before to during the COVID-19 Pandemic. Journal of Research on Adolescence, 1–18. https://doi.org/10.1111/jora.12781
Benke, C., et al. (2022). One year after the COVID-19 outbreak in Germany: long-term changes in depression, anxiety, loneliness, distress and life satisfaction. European Archives of Psychiatry and Clinical Neuroscience, 0123456789, 20–23. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00406-022-01400-0
Birmaher, B., et al. (1999). Psychometric properties of the Screen for Child Anxiety Related Emotional Disorders (SCARED): A replication study. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 38, 1230-1236. https://doi.org/10.1097/00004583-199910000-00011
Danneel, S., et al. (2020). Loneliness, Social Anxiety Symptoms, and Depressive Symptoms in Adolescence: Longitudinal Distinctiveness and Correlated Change. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 49(11), 2246–2264. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-020-01315-w
Gasteiger-Klicpera, B., & Klicpera, Ch. (2003). Warum fühlen sich Schüler einsam? Einflussfaktoren der Einsamkeit im schulischen Kontext. Praxis der Kinderpsychologie und Kinderpsychiatrie, 52 (1), 1-16.
Hossain, M. M., Nesa, F., Das, J., Aggad, R., & Tasnim, S. (2022). Global burden of mental health problems among children and adolescents during COVID-19 pandemic: An umbrella review. Psychiatry Research, 317(January), 114814. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychres.2022.114814
Jamil, A., et al. (2022). Loneliness and mental health related impacts of COVID-19: a narrative review. International Journal of Adolescent Medicine and Health, 0(0). https://doi.org/10.1515/ijamh-2022-0032
Kauhanen, L., et al. (2022). A systematic review of the mental health changes of children and young people before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. European Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 0123456789. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00787-022-02060-0
Kayaoğlu, K., & Başcıllar, M. (2022). Determining the relationship between loneliness and depression in adolescents during the COVID-19 pandemic: A cross-sectional survey. Journal of Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Nursing, May, 1–7. https://doi.org/10.1111/jcap.12384
Krammer, M., et al. (2022). „Durch die Coronapandemie belastet?“ Der Einfluss von durch COVID-19 induzierter Angst auf die sozial-emotionale Entwicklung 12- bis 13-Jähriger in Österreich. Zeitschrift Für Bildungsforschung, 12(1), 43–60. https://doi.org/10.1007/s35834-022-00336-8
Loades, M. E., et al. (2020). Rapid systematic review: The impact of social isolation adolescents in the context of COVID-19. Journal of the American of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 59(11), 1218–1239.
Raccanello, D., et al. (2022). Eighteen Months of COVID-19 Pandemic Through the Lenses of Self or Others: A Meta-Analysis on Children and Adolescents’ Mental Health. Child and Youth Care Forum, 0123456789. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10566-022-09706-9
Samji, H., et al. (2022). Review: Mental health impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on children and youth – a systematic review. Child and Adolescent Mental Health, 27(2), 173–189. https://doi.org/10.1111/camh.12501
05. Children and Youth at Risk and Urban Education
Paper
Managing School: Agentic Reponses by Young People Living with Drug use
Joyce Nicholson
University of Glasgow, United Kingdom
Presenting Author: Nicholson, Joyce
As many as 30% of young people are affected by parental substance use, including hazardous drinking across Europe (EMCDDA 2010). Young people may experience a range of impacts including on their health and well-being and educational experiences (Cleaver et al 2011, Velleman & Templeton 2016, Kuppens et al 2020). Indeed, research from Europe suggests there may be significant effects on academic outcomes, including academic underachievement and school adjustment (Torvik et al 2011, Berg et al 2016, Lowthian 2022). Structural and intersecting issues such a poverty, domestic abuse and mental health are central to understanding both the impacts and outcomes for young people and their families, with deprivation the central driver of statutory intervention in children’s and families’ lives (Bywaters et al 2016). Recently, a Council of Europe Report described children affected by parental drug use as ‘not receiving enough attention’ and recommended the development of ‘sensitising tools aimed at understanding the experience of parental drug dependence, (to) initiate discussions about it in society, schools, communities and families’ (Giacomello 2022:85). There is an absence of research that considers day-to day school experiences for young people affected by drug use and a small number of qualitative studies which do provide some deeper insights into the relational complexities between poor school attendance and engagement more generally (Barnard and Barlow 2003, Backett-Milburn et al 2008).
Much of the literature on young people and families affected by parental substance use describe attempts to manage stigma and shame, fears around (and actual) removal and how they ‘get by’ (Backett-Milburn et al 2008). Bancroft (2004) and Backett-Milburn (2008) describe the ways in which young people agentically managed their day to day lives by, for example, attempting to take control of their parent's drug or alcohol use and family responsibilities, protecting their parents and siblings, withdrawing to private space, and occasionally confronting parents about their use. Young people are, accordingly, creatively responding to their relational and social contexts. Young people may present in school in ways that aim to keep themselves ‘under the radar’, and as having 'normal' family lives (Backett- Milburn et al 2008, Sipler et al 2020). These may mean that their need for support in school is hidden as teachers may be unable to recognise and respond to young people’s well being needs. Young people may be viewed as resilient or as coping (Velleman and Templeton 2016), though there is a gap in the literature about their school experiences and school-based responses. This paper will examine how young people and their caregivers navigate and negotiate day-to-day life at school.
Methodology, Methods, Research Instruments or Sources UsedThis is an interpretivist study adopting a qualitative approach (Denzin & Lincoln 1998). Fourteen semi-structured home-based interviews were conducted with seven children and their seven mothers/ caregivers within six families with long term use of opiates and other drugs. Three discussion groups were held with ten schoolteachers around their knowledge and experience of identifying and responding to children affected by parental drug use in a school setting.
Projective techniques which range in their purpose, including producing ‘data,’ facilitating discussion, and as a mechanism allowing children to manage the intense
research relationship were used in this study. Projective techniques and visual methods, included drawings, storyboards, and eco maps (Hartman 1978, McCormick et al 2008) were important in addressing power relations and agency with young people (Bagnoli 2009, Baumgartner and Buchanan 2010).
In considering the claims made from research with children and young people, Morrow (2008) suggests that using a number of methods including creative methods, such as those used in this study, can help to reduce biases.
The data was analysed using reflexive thematic analysis (Braun and Clarke 2006, Braun and Clarke 2019). Reflexivity is crucial to ensure research is ‘ethically mindful’ (Guillemin and Heggen 2009) and Graham et al (2015) suggest there is a multitude of ‘microethical’ moments that require ‘right here, right now’ responses. I shall give an example of these ‘moments’ during my fieldwork and examine the importance of reflexivity throughout the research process with young people and their caregivers. Limitations include the small sample size, though findings will be relevant for further study in this under-researched area.
Conclusions, Expected Outcomes or FindingsIn this study, young people affected by parental drug use are managing long-term, highly complex living situations, a coalescence of problems. Young people and their mothers and caregivers experienced multiple, complex stigmas. The management of stigma by young people was central to interactions with school. The management of stigma was also pivotal to recognition of, and responses to, young people impacted by parental drug use. Most young people’s situations were not fully known to their teachers, and children and young people managed that hiddenness, including their caregiving responsibilities. This study demonstrates the tension between young people managing stigma through attempts to remain under the radar and the resultant struggle to have their needs seen and responded to in school. There is no ‘quick fix’ to resolve this tension. Recognition by schools of the ways in which children and their caregivers agentically manage day-to-day life, including self- exclusion from school, the importance of routine and structure and transitions is needed. This also involves addressing constraints on agency and recognition of the negotiations and resistances in day-to-day lives in and with school. The relational contexts of children and young people’s lives need to be understood alongside their motivation to safeguard and maintain their family life. This has implications for supporting regular school attendance where children and young people are caregiving, as well as for reframing discourses presenting young people and families as non-compliant, or deliberately misleading. Further, understanding agentic responses to complex stigma supports a strength-based approach to responding with, rather than to, families, in an approach that recognises structural inequities. Whole-school approaches are required to ensure that all young people receive safe, nurturing, compassionate responses in school that are rooted in understanding the voices and hidden experiences of young people in further developing support within and beyond the school walls.
ReferencesBackett-Milburn, K., Wilson, S., Bancroft, A. and Cunningham-Burley, S. (2008) Challenging Childhoods: Young People’s Accounts of `Getting By’ in Families with Substance Use Problems Childhood 15 (4) 461-479.
Barnard, M. and Barlow, J. (2003) Discovering Parental Drug Dependence: Silence and Disclosure Children and Society 17 (1) 45–56.
Berg, L., Bäck, K., Vinnerljung, B. and Hjern, A. (2016) Parental Alcohol-Related Disorders and School Performance in 16-year-olds—A Swedish National Cohort Study Addiction 111 (10) 1795-1803.
Braun, V. and Clarke, V. (2006) Using Thematic Analysis in Psychology. Qualitative Research in Psychology 3 (2) 77-101
Braun, V. and Clarke, V. (2019) Reflecting on Reflexive Thematic Analysis Qualitative Research in Sport Exercise and Health 11 (4) 589-597.
Bywaters, P., Brady, G., Sparks, T. and Bos, E. (2016) Child Welfare Inequalities: New Evidence, Further Questions Child, and Family Social Work 21 (3) 369– 380.
Cleaver, H., Unell, I. and Aldgate, J. (2011) Children’s Needs – Parenting Capacity. Child Abuse: Parental Mental Illness, Learning Disability, Substance Misuse and Domestic Violence (2nd edition). London: The Stationery Office.
European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (2010). Children’s Voices: Experiences and Perceptions of European Children on Drug and Alcohol issues available at http://www.emcdda.europa.eu/system/files/publications/618/TP_ChildrenVoices_206942.pdf
Giacomello, C. (2022) Children Whose Parents Use Drugs: Promising practices and recommendations Council of Europe available at https://rm.coe.int/2021-ppg-27-isbn-children-whose-parents-use-drugs-promising-practices-/1680a602ae
Kuppens S, Moore SC, Gross V, Lowthian E, Siddaway AP. (2020) The Enduring Effects of Parental Alcohol, Tobacco, and Drug Use on Child Well-being: A Multilevel Meta-Analysis. Dev Psychopathology 32 (2):765-778.
Lowthian, E. (2022) The Secondary Harms of Parental Substance Use on Children’s Educational Outcomes: A Review. Journal Child Adolescent Trauma 15, 511–522.
Sipler, E., Templeton, L. and Brewer, E. (2020) Steps to Cope: Supporting Young People Affected by Parental Substance Misuse and Mental Health Issues in Northern Ireland Advances in Mental Health 18 (3) 241-250.
O'Shay-Wallace, S. (2020) We Weren't Raised that Way: Using Stigma Management Communication Theory to Understand How Families Manage the Stigma of Substance Abuse. Health Communication 35 (4) 465-474.
Torvik, F., Rognmo, K., Ask, H., Røysamb, E. and Tambs, K. (2011) Parental Alcohol Use and Adolescent School Adjustment in the General Population: Results from The HUNT Study BMC Public Health 19 (11) 706.
Velleman, R. & Templeton, L. (2016) Impact of Parents Substance Misuse on Children: An Update BJPsych Advances 22:2 108–117.
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