Social and psychiatric effects of Covid-19 pandemic and distance learning on high school students: A cross-sectional web-based survey

  1. American Robert College, Istanbul, Turkey
  2. LS Seyahi

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Abstract

We investigated the socio-psychological effects of both the pandemic and distance learning on high school students in Turkey and Denmark. We aimed to assess whether there were any differences between students attending public or private schools in Turkey, and between two countries having different approaches to the pandemic and considerable socio-cultural and economic differences. We conducted a web-based questionnaire study in a cross-sectional design using the Survey Monkey Platform and sent it out via social media to high school students in Turkey and Denmark. The survey collected socio-demographic data, several variables associated with pandemic and distance education and their effects on social life and psychological well-being. Additionally, emotional health was assessed using the Positive and Negative Affects Schedule. We studied 565 (mean age: 16.5 ± 1.0) Turkish and 92 (mean age: 17.7 ± 1.0) Danish students, of whom the majority were female adolescents (63% vs 76%). Students educated in public (47.6%) and private high schools (52.4%) were nearly similar in number in the Turkish group, whereas in the Danish sample almost all students were from public schools (98.9%). Turkish students were significantly more likely to be compliant with the pandemic-related restrictions. Besides that, there were significant socio-economic disparities between Turkish and Danish students and also within Turkey between public and private school students. Turkish online education system was significantly less adequate and satisfactory compared to the Danish system. These were even worse for those who were attending public schools in Turkey. Regardless of the socio-economic differences, the majority of the students in both countries have been negatively affected by the pandemic and related restrictions and had a negative opinion about distance education. This was also true for the PANAS scores. The total scores of PANAS were similar between Turkish and Danish students (PA: 27.0 ± 7.6 versus 25.8 ± 5.6; NA: 24.8 ± 7.5 versus 24.5 ± 7.3) and also within Turkey between public and private school students (PA: 26.8 ± 7.5 versus 27.1 ± 7.6; NA: 24.7 ± 7.2 versus 25.0 ± 7.8). While female students were significantly more severely affected in the Turkish group, no such gender differences were observed in the Danish group. Additionally, considerable portion of the students in Turkey and Denmark expressed loneliness (55.2% vs 59.8%, p<0.706), boredom (71.2% vs 58.7%, p=0.019) and anxiety towards the future (61.4% vs 22.8%, p<0.001). Decreased physical activity, sleep problems, eating disorders and domestic abuse were other complaints. In conclusion, adolescents from both countries have been severely affected by the pandemic and its related restrictions and expressed negative views about distance education. Turkish online education system seemed to be less satisfactory when compared to the Danish system. Within Turkey, public school students had significantly more disadvantages compared to those attending private schools. Despite the fact that there were several socio-economic inequalities among students, in general, there were no robust significant differences regarding the psychological status and opinion about distance learning, indicating a global worsening of emotional status during the pandemic.

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  1. Version published to 10.30918/aerj.104.21.123
  2. ScreenIT

    SciScore for 10.1101/2020.10.21.20217406: (What is this?)

    Please note, not all rigor criteria are appropriate for all manuscripts.

    Table 1: Rigor

    Institutional Review Board StatementIACUC: Ethical committee of Cerrahpasa Medical School at Istanbul University-Cerrahpasa also approved the study (12/10/2020-134020).
    Consent: Electronic informed consent was presented on the first page of the survey citing that the survey is voluntary and participants could withdraw from the survey at any time.
    Randomizationnot detected.
    Blindingnot detected.
    Power Analysisnot detected.
    Sex as a biological variableThe Mann Whitney U test was used for comparison of positive affects and negative affects by nationality (Turkish versus Danish), gender (male versus female), and whether students or family members/close acquaintances have COVID-19 (no versus yes).

    Table 2: Resources

    Software and Algorithms
    SentencesResources
    IBM SPSS Statistics for Windows, v.20.0 (IBM Corp., Armonk, NY, USA) was used in statistical analysis.
    SPSS
    suggested: (SPSS, RRID:SCR_002865)

    Results from OddPub: We did not detect open data. We also did not detect open code. Researchers are encouraged to share open data when possible (see Nature blog).

    Results from LimitationRecognizer: We detected the following sentences addressing limitations in the study:
    Our study has several limitations. Information bias and lack of longitudinal data are inherent to cross-sectional questionnaire study design. Oversimplification of reality is also one of the limitations of the questionnaire study design because of the multiple-choice questions with preconceived categories. It should be noted that socio-cultural status might also affect an individual’s responses. Also, the size of the Danish group was small (1/5th of the Turkish group) which could affect statistical calculations. Especially, the male group within the Danish sample was small and this might cause type 2 error. The effect of social isolation and distance learning might be correlated with the duration. Finally, despite the short duration of data collection, our study groups might not be homogeneous in terms of this effect size. For some time Turkish students have been having distance education while Danish students have already started their semester in class. This fact can cause discrepancies between the Danish survey and Turkish survey outputs. In conclusions, we found that both COVID-19 pandemic and distance education had negative effects on mood statues among both Turkish and Danish students. Students reported lower levels of positive affects, and higher levels of negative counterparts, compared to the previous studies done prior to the pandemic. Female students were significantly more severely affected; however this was true for only the Turkish group. Moreover, students expr...

    Results from TrialIdentifier: No clinical trial numbers were referenced.

    Results from Barzooka: We did not find any issues relating to the usage of bar graphs.

    Results from JetFighter: We did not find any issues relating to colormaps.

    Results from rtransparent:
    • Thank you for including a conflict of interest statement. Authors are encouraged to include this statement when submitting to a journal.
    • Thank you for including a funding statement. Authors are encouraged to include this statement when submitting to a journal.
    • No protocol registration statement was detected.

    About SciScore

    SciScore is an automated tool that is designed to assist expert reviewers by finding and presenting formulaic information scattered throughout a paper in a standard, easy to digest format. SciScore checks for the presence and correctness of RRIDs (research resource identifiers), and for rigor criteria such as sex and investigator blinding. For details on the theoretical underpinning of rigor criteria and the tools shown here, including references cited, please follow this link.

  3. Version published to 10.1101/2020.10.21.20217406v1 on medRxiv