Toisen asteen opiskelijoiden masennusoireilu ennen koronapandemiaa ja sen aikana: Kohorttivertailututkimus

Authors

• Veera Isopahkala
• Senja Lukka
• Matilda Sorkkila
• Kati Vasalampi
• Eija Pakarinen
• Noona Kiuru

DOI: https://doi.org/10.23990/sa.137427

Keywords:

depressive symptoms, secondary school students, corona pandemic

Abstract

This longitudinal study examined depressive symptoms of Finnish upper secondary school students before and during the corona pandemic as part of a broader EduRESCUE project. The study compared two cohorts regarding the prevalence and development of depressive symptoms. In the first measurement point, the students were in the first year of secondary school and in the second measurement point in the third year. The first cohort consisted of the Koulupolku data collected in the spring of 2017 and autumn of 2018 before the corona pandemic (n = 506). The second cohort consisted of the TIKAPUU II data collected in the spring of 2019 before the corona pandemic and in the fall of 2020 during the corona pandemic (n = 645). The results showed that even more than a fifth of students exceeded the clinical threshold for depressive symptoms, and that girls reported more depressive symptoms than boys. On the other hand, there were no differences in the depressive symptoms between the educational tracks. Depressive symptoms also increased significantly during the upper secondary studies both before and during the corona pandemic. The development of depressive symptoms was similar in both cohorts. However, in the TIKAPUU cohort (collected two years later than Koulupolku cohort) the level of depressive symptoms was higher already before the pandemic. The results suggest that depressive symptoms among young people have increased independently of the corona pandemic. This development is worrying both from the point of view of young people's school adjustment and their mental health. In school communities, it would be important to develop interventions and methods of support, especially to prevent depressive symptoms in girls.