The Current Situation Of Adolescents’ Adaptation To The COVID-19 Pandemic And Its Occurrence Mechanism

The coronavirus disease(COVID-19)pandemic has had a significant impact on people’s life,health and lifestyle,especially for adolescents whose physical and mental health are not yet mature,they are more vulnerable to sudden social changes,showing psychological and behavioral maladjustment,thus experiencing more negative emotions and triggering negative life and learning styles.Therefore,exploring the adaptability of adolescents under the pandemic will help us to formulate targeted measures to minimize the harm caused by the pandemic.But in fact,many adolescents have also shown good adaptability to the pandemic,among which the preparedness before the pandemic(including psychological preparation and material preparation)may be an important factor affecting whether adolescents adapt to the pandemic.Based on Stress Inoculation Theory(Meichenbaum,1985),if preparations were made well before the pandemic,and there was a knowledge system on how to deal with the pandemic in the knowledge structure of adolescents,then when the crisis came,negative cognitions and emotions could be overcome.Adolescents would face the changes actively,and better adapt to the pandemic.In addition,psychological and material preparation might affect adolescents’ pandemic adaptation by affecting their cognitive activities and emotional responses.And there might be differences in the mechanism of action in different gender and grade groups.However,the underlying influence mechanism of preparedness on pandemic adaptation of adolescents in China was unclear at present,and the differences between different groups had also not been investigated.As mentioned above,this study explored the current situation and internal mechanism of adolescent pandemic adaptation through two studies.Study 1 conducted qualitative interviews with 47 students from two schools in Jiaxing City,Zhejiang Province,and explored the structural dimensions of adolescent pandemic adaptation based on the research process of grounded theory.Resulting in a three-level code of“pandemic adaptation”: life adaptation,learning adaptation and victory belief.After that,the pandemic adaptation scale for adolescents was developed and used to measure the pandemic adaptation of 1636 primary and middle school students in Jiaxing City,Zhejiang Province.The results showed that although some adolescents had difficulties in adapting to the pandemic,most of them were able to adapt to the pandemic well and showed a great level of adaptation in three dimensions.In addition,different demographic variables would affect the pandemic adaptation of adolescents.In study2,1636 middle school students and primary school students in two schools in Jiaxing City,Zhejiang Province during the COVID-19 were tested with self-reported questionnaires,and the influence mechanism of COVID-19 pandemic preparedness on pandemic adaptation of adolescents was investigated by establishing a Structural Equation Model.The differences between gender and grade were also explored.The results showed that psychological preparation could not only directly and positively predict pandemic adaptation,but also positively predict pandemic adaptation through positive changes in self-perception and depression;and positively predict pandemic adaptation via positive changes in self-perception through depression.Material preparation couldn’t directly or indirectly predict adolescents’ pandemic adaptation through depression,but it could positively predict adolescents’ pandemic adaptation through positive changes in self-perception and positive changes in self-perception via depression.The reduction of psychological preparation on depression was more significant in the female group,and the improvement of material preparation on the positive changes in self-perception was more significant in the male group and the primary school group.These results showed that adolescents’ adaptation to the pandemic was mainly manifested in three aspects: life adaptation,learning adaptation and victory belief;most adolescents could adapt well to the pandemic in all aspects;preparedness was an important factor in promoting adolescents’ pandemic adaptation.It could play a role by increasing the positive changes in adolescents’ self-perception and reducing depression during the pandemic.At the same time,there were differences in the mechanisms of psychological preparation and material preparation.It also reflected in different gender and grade groups.These findings suggest that we must formulate comprehensive intervention measures from three perspectives(Including life,learning,and belief perspectives)and take precautions before dealing with the adaptation problems of adolescents in major emergencies in the future,and strengthen psychological and material preparations from a preventive perspective to promote their adaptation after the event.In addition,attentions should also be paid to different gender and grade groups in order to develop more targeted interventions.