Factors contributing to adolescents' COVID-19-related loneliness, distress, and worries

As the world continues to face uncertainty due to COVID-19, there is concern for adolescent wellbeing as they attempt to cope with changes to their education and social interactions. Considering the trade-offs between physical distancing and virtual education versus in-person instruction may be particularly pertinent to understanding adolescent loneliness and worries surrounding COVID-19 and their academics. Adolescents (N = 1,708; age M = 12.42, SD = 2.40; 53.3% girls and 46.7% boys) from the United States self-reported their perceptions of social support, COVID-19 attitudes, and indicators of wellbeing (i.e., loneliness, COVID-19 stress, academic worry) in an online cross-sectional survey between November 30, 2020 to December 21, 2020. Higher levels of social support and attitudes of lower COVID-19 concern were associated with lower levels of loneliness, COVID-19 stress, and academic worries. Adolescents receiving greater virtual instruction were more worried about their academics compared to those receiving greater in-person instruction. A moderation effect between loneliness and instruction type revealed that the effect of social support was stronger for those receiving greater virtual instruction. Despite the quick and dramatic change to one's education, adolescents were relatively unaffected by the type of instruction they had recently received. Instead, perceived social support and their attitudes toward COVID-19 were more strongly related to their wellbeing.