COVID-19-related mental health and well-being: A qualitative study of Czech adolescents’ lived experiences

ABSTRACT

The present study aimed to explore lived experiences of Czech adolescents with a focus on mental health and well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic. To meet the study objective, the qualitative analysis employed focus group interviews with 12 selected adolescent participants. The participants described a wide array of behavioral changes, feelings, experiences, and opinions related to their mental health and well-being across a wide range of contexts. The thematic analyses revealed 23 specific factors characteristic to the context of the response to the pandemic emerged within the context of school and study, followed by the context of families, peer and social interactions, as well as the situation of coronavirus and pandemic in society. The specifically emerged themes were described as potential factors leading to aggravating or mitigating mental health problems in reference to already published findings. The results can potentially draw implications for public health policy in the event of the reemergence of potential societal threats.

KEYWORDS:

• COVID-19
• mental health
• well-being
• adolescents
• focus groups

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s). The authors declare no relevant or material financial interests that relate to the research described in this paper.

Additional information

Funding

The work was supported by the EEA Grants/Norway Grants [ZD-ZDOVA1-025].

Notes on contributors

Ondřej Pešout

Ondřej Pešout is a research coordinator in the department of public mental health at NIMH in Czechia. He received his PhD in Educational Psychology from North Carolina State University. His main research area focuses on developing self-regulated learning and metacognition assessment methods, and interventions applied in formal education.

Hana Tomášková

HanaTomášková is a researcher in the department of public mental health at NIMH in Czechia focusing on child and adolescent mental health. She received her MSc. in Child Development from University College London (UCL).

Laura Bechyňová

Laura Bechyňová received her Masters’ in psychology at Charles University in the Czech Republic, specializing in clinical psychology and health. She is a researcher in implementation science at NUDZ for child and adolescent mental health.

Benjamin Šimsa

Benjamin Šimsa is a research assistant in the department of public mental health at NIMH in Czechia focusing on child and adolescent mental health. He received his bachelor´s degree in Psychology at Charles University.

Anna Kågström

Anna Kågström is head of the child and adolescent mental health working group in the department of public mental health at NIMH in Czechia. She obtained her MSc. in Global Mental Health in a joint program at the Institute of Psychiatry at King´s College London, and the London School of Hygiene and Medicine.