Adolescent learners’ experiences, mental health, and coping strategies during the COVID-19 pandemic in South Africa
The COVID-19 pandemic profoundly disrupted global education systems, with limited research focusing on its psychological and emotional impact among adolescent learners in low- and middle-income countries. Through in-person semi-structured interviews, this qualitative study explored the experiences,...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Global Association of Educational and Research in Psychology
2025-02-01
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| Series: | International Journal of Studies in Psychology |
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| Online Access: | https://pubs.ufs.ac.za/index.php/ijspsy/article/view/1572 |
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| author | Phillipa Haine Bronwyne Coetzee Marnus Janse Van Vuuren Ashraf Kagee |
| author_facet | Phillipa Haine Bronwyne Coetzee Marnus Janse Van Vuuren Ashraf Kagee |
| author_sort | Phillipa Haine |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The COVID-19 pandemic profoundly disrupted global education systems, with limited research focusing on its psychological and emotional impact among adolescent learners in low- and middle-income countries. Through in-person semi-structured interviews, this qualitative study explored the experiences, mental health impacts, and coping strategies of twenty were purposively selected adolescent learners (4 males and 19 females). Thematic analysis revealed three key themes: Weight of restrictions: Navigating the general impact, Academic and emotional strain: The dual burden of the pandemic and adapting to adversity. The findings illuminate the pandemic's multifaceted effects on adolescent learners’ social, economic, educational, and emotional wellbeing. While many adolescent learners experienced significant strain, others demonstrated resilience and employed adaptive emotion-focused coping strategies. These results emphasise the role of individual and contextual factors in shaping learners’ responses to crises. The study advocates multilevel mental health interventions that integrate economic, educational, and psychosocial dimensions. This study recommends that future research should further explore these dynamics across diverse populations and longitudinally to inform post-pandemic mental health and education policies. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-648f27c2e9d74b92aff63fbe43d4a0da |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2710-2319 2710-2327 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-02-01 |
| publisher | Global Association of Educational and Research in Psychology |
| record_format | Article |
| series | International Journal of Studies in Psychology |
| spelling | doaj-art-648f27c2e9d74b92aff63fbe43d4a0da2025-08-20T03:50:16ZengGlobal Association of Educational and Research in PsychologyInternational Journal of Studies in Psychology2710-23192710-23272025-02-015191510.38140/ijspsy.v5i1.15721536Adolescent learners’ experiences, mental health, and coping strategies during the COVID-19 pandemic in South AfricaPhillipa Haine0Bronwyne Coetzee1Marnus Janse Van Vuuren2Ashraf Kagee3Stellenbosch UniversityStellenbosch UniversityStellenbosch UniversityStellenbosch UniversityThe COVID-19 pandemic profoundly disrupted global education systems, with limited research focusing on its psychological and emotional impact among adolescent learners in low- and middle-income countries. Through in-person semi-structured interviews, this qualitative study explored the experiences, mental health impacts, and coping strategies of twenty were purposively selected adolescent learners (4 males and 19 females). Thematic analysis revealed three key themes: Weight of restrictions: Navigating the general impact, Academic and emotional strain: The dual burden of the pandemic and adapting to adversity. The findings illuminate the pandemic's multifaceted effects on adolescent learners’ social, economic, educational, and emotional wellbeing. While many adolescent learners experienced significant strain, others demonstrated resilience and employed adaptive emotion-focused coping strategies. These results emphasise the role of individual and contextual factors in shaping learners’ responses to crises. The study advocates multilevel mental health interventions that integrate economic, educational, and psychosocial dimensions. This study recommends that future research should further explore these dynamics across diverse populations and longitudinally to inform post-pandemic mental health and education policies.https://pubs.ufs.ac.za/index.php/ijspsy/article/view/1572adolescent learnerscovid-19 pandemicmental healthsouth africa |
| spellingShingle | Phillipa Haine Bronwyne Coetzee Marnus Janse Van Vuuren Ashraf Kagee Adolescent learners’ experiences, mental health, and coping strategies during the COVID-19 pandemic in South Africa International Journal of Studies in Psychology adolescent learners covid-19 pandemic mental health south africa |
| title | Adolescent learners’ experiences, mental health, and coping strategies during the COVID-19 pandemic in South Africa |
| title_full | Adolescent learners’ experiences, mental health, and coping strategies during the COVID-19 pandemic in South Africa |
| title_fullStr | Adolescent learners’ experiences, mental health, and coping strategies during the COVID-19 pandemic in South Africa |
| title_full_unstemmed | Adolescent learners’ experiences, mental health, and coping strategies during the COVID-19 pandemic in South Africa |
| title_short | Adolescent learners’ experiences, mental health, and coping strategies during the COVID-19 pandemic in South Africa |
| title_sort | adolescent learners experiences mental health and coping strategies during the covid 19 pandemic in south africa |
| topic | adolescent learners covid-19 pandemic mental health south africa |
| url | https://pubs.ufs.ac.za/index.php/ijspsy/article/view/1572 |
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