Pupils’ anxiety levels ‘improved in lockdown’

QUESTIONS have been raised about the impact of school environments on teenagers’ mental health after a study in England suggested their anxiety levels had improved during the coronavirus lockdown.

Academics said young people would need more support and help when they return to the classroom in September after nearly six months of interrupted studies.

The pandemic saw schools closed and unprecedented restrictions placed on people’s lives, with people told to stay at home.

Many young people lost contact with friends and support networks when the restrictions were imposed but instead of their anxiety levels worsening, they improved, according to the study.

Researchers at the University of Bristol suggested that this was because there was no longer the dayto-day pressures of school life and difficult peer relationships.

In October last year they surveyed more than 1,000 Year Nine students from 17 secondary schools across the south-west of England.

They found that 54% of 13 and 14-year-old girls showed they were at risk of anxiety, compared to 26% of boys of the same age.

When surveyed again in May, the figures dropped by nearly 10 percentage points among girls to 45% and to just 18% of boys.

“With the whole world in the grip of a devastating pandemic, which has thrown everyone’s lives into turmoil, the natural expectation would be to see an increase in anxiety,” said lead author Emily Widnall.

“While we saw anxiety levels rise for a few of our participants, it was a big surprise to discover quite the opposite was the case for many of them. Of particular interest, those students who felt least connected to school before the lockdown saw a larger decrease in anxiety, which raises questions about how the school environment affects some younger teenagers’ mental wellbeing.”

Many students’ sense of wellbeing also improved during lockdown, with boys showing a bigger improvement than girls.