Flow Experience and Emotional Well-Being among Italian Adolescents during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

Research highlighted the negative consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic on adolescents’ emotional well-being worldwide. In the attempt to identify resources which could facilitate adolescents’ adjustment, this study examined the occurrence of flow experience and related activities, and the association between flow and emotional well-being among Italian teenagers. In Spring 2021, 150 students (40.7% girls) aged 15–19 completed instruments assessing flow and related activities before and during the pandemic, and current positive and negative affect. Findings revealed that only 24.7% of the participants currently reported flow; over half of those reporting flow before the pandemic did not experience it subsequently, and only 6.5% of those not reporting flow before the pandemic currently experienced it. Participants with flow both before and during the pandemic reported higher positive affect than teens who never experienced flow (p = .011), or lost it (p = .006). No group differences were detected for negative affect. Learning, structured leisure, and interpersonal relations were the domains most frequently associated with flow before and during the pandemic, but after the pandemic onset a reduction in the variety of flow activities and limited identification of new flow domains were observed. The association of flow with higher emotional well-being even in pandemic times suggests the potential usefulness of interventions promoting flow retrieval under adverse circumstances.

Keywords:

• Flow experience
• emotional well-being
• adolescence
• COVID-19 pandemic

Acknowledgments

We would like to express our deepest gratitude to headmasters, teachers and students for their precious time and for making this study possible.

Disclosure Statement

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Funding

This study was partially supported by the Romeo and Enrica Invernizzi Foundation.

Notes

1 The dataset for the analysis of flow transformation included 145 participants (M age= 17.52 years; SD = 1.03; range= 15-19), 59 girls and 86 boys (respectively, 40.7% and 59.3%) who attended high school (N = 121; 83.4%), or professional/technical schools (N = 24; 16.7%). The participants in condition 4 excluded from analysis were 2 girls (40%) and 3 boys (60%) with a mean age of 17.60 years (SD = 0.55); four (80%) attended high school and one (20%) a professional/technical school. No significant differences emerged between this group and the other participants pooled together concerning gender, age, type of school, and negative affect levels (N = 145, M = 2.95, SD = 0.92), whereas students in condition 4 scored higher on positive affect (N = 145, M = 2.73, SD = 0.77; F(1,148)=5.92, p=.016).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Marta Bassi

Marta Bassi, PhD, is associate professor in general psychology at Università degli Studi di Milano, Italy. She has conducted research in human development, focusing on adolescents’ quality of experience and identity building, as well as in health psychology investigating well-being among persons with chronic diseases and their formal and informal caregivers.

Claudia Carissoli

Claudia Carissoli, PhD, psychologist, is conducting postdoctoral research at Università degli Studi di Milano, Italy. Her interests are mainly addressed to the investigation of new ways of using technologies to promote people’s well-being in order to increase their self-efficacy and resilience in life.

Sofia Beretta

Sofia Beretta is a medical student at Università degli Studi di Milano, Italy. Her research interests revolve around psychological well-being and its implications for public health.

Luca Negri

Luca Negri, PhD, is research fellow at Università degli Studi di Milano, Italy. His main research interests focus on mental health, psychological resources and well-being in the general population, as well as in conditions of adversity.

Andrea Fianco

Andrea Fianco, PhD, is psychologist and psychotherapist at Studio Sememe of Milano, Italy. He has collaborated with many schools contributing to develop training programs for pupils, teachers, and parents, centered on promotion of health and psychological well-being.

Antonella Delle Fave

Antonella Delle Fave, MD is professor of Psychology at Università degli Studi di Milano, Italy. Her main research interest is the study of flow experience and positive mental health across cultures and under adversity conditions. Author of scientific papers and books, she served as President of the International Positive Psychology Association.