Cohort Comparisons of the Consequences of COVID on Youth Psychological Wellbeing.

Background: The effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on mental health of young people is a critical social issue. One under-explored effect is whether birth cohort moderated pandemic exposures and consequent effects on health and well-being. As cohort determined both the timing of lives and life circumstances during the pandemic period, investigation of cohort moderation – amplification or amelioration – is critical for the advance of both science and public policy.

Context: Mental health of young people and its relation to life course transitions is a critical aspect of population health and there is wide speculation that the COVID-19 pandemic had widespread detrimental effects on well-being.

Methods: We conducted random-effect, growth curve analysis with N-way productterms to assess both cohort effects and variation in cohort effects in the two cohorts of the Growing up in Ireland child cohort longitudinal study.

Results: In general, cohort differences in pandemic effects on psychological wellbeing were remarkably similar across cohorts with an approximate increase of 12 percent in symptomatology between the pre-COVID and COVID-19 period. There was further evidence of cohort moderation with respect to sociodemographic/family background factors. Surprisingly, there was very little evidence that pandemic exposures were associated with cohort differences in psychological well-being during the pandemic.

Conclusion: The findings point to a negative impact of the pandemic on the mental health of young people that was highly consistent regardless of cohort and by extension life stage. This highlights the needs for mental health supports suitable for a range of ages and life course contexts.