School Counselors’ assessments of the impact of COVID-19 restrictive measures on the well-being of Adolescents in the ages 15-17 years

Abstract

The prolonged home confinement of children and adolescents due to the lockdown measures to contain the COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted their education, physical activities, and opportunities for socialization. In many cases, it negatively affected their social development and emotional wellbeing. At most public high schools, school counselors are on the front lines dealing with emotionally at-risk students every day. Research presented here is a part of a larger project titled "Creativity for Resilience: Yes, to Art", exploring the impact of COVID-19 restrictive measures on the mental wellbeing of adolescents (15-17 years old) and ways to increase the psychological resilience of this age group. In this initial stage, we performed a pilot study where 80 school counselors assessed the most prevalent mental and behavioral states of their advisee adolescents and, at the same time, assessed their self-concepts on how to cope with such issues. We collected quantitative data through an online survey launched in September 2021. Findings presented here refer to school counselors' assessment of adolescents' mental and behavioral states and indicate that counselors consider generalized anxiety, anxiety regarding their academic studies, anxiety related to career development, and increased internet time as adolescents' most prominent psychological and behavioral issues at this time. We suggest the implementation of specialized psychoeducational workshops in the school through which educators and counselors will apply creative drama techniques to cultivate and sustain the psychological resilience of adolescents