Getting Schooled

Alberta Student Wellbeing and Resilience During School Re-Entry

By: Dr. Kelly Dean Schwartz, R. Psych, Dr. Erica Makarenko, R. Psych, Dr. Carly McMorris, R. Psych

“As Alberta secondary students returned to school this Fall, we addressed this lack of evidence and asked students about their learning, health, mental health, and relationships as they returned to school.”

The words “unprecedented,” “historic,” and “crisis” are tired words that have exhausted their usefulness in describing the COVID-19 worldwide pandemic. Since March, however, these words are likely to hold true for thousands of students who had their educational paths disrupted by school closures and online learning. Much conjecture and speculation about student wellbeing and academic achievement has been written since then, but little data has been collected to provide evidence of harm to students. As Alberta secondary students returned to school this Fall, we addressed this lack of evidence and asked students about their learning, health, mental health, and relationships as they returned to school.

We partnered with four metro school divisions – Calgary Board of Education, Calgary Catholic School District, Edmonton Public School Board, and Edmonton Catholic Schools – to ask students (age 12-18) about four main areas of their lives: their experiences of COVID-19 as it impacted themselves, their families, their education, and their health; their stress levels as it related to COVID-19; their mental and behavioural health; and their personal and social supports (i.e., resiliency) that are available and accessible. Over 2,300 students (M age = 14.5, Females = 1288) completed the online survey in September.

Preliminary results indicate 85% of students returned to school in-person, and the majority (75%) feel relatively safe during COVID-19, regularly using protective measures and practicing physical distancing, and are coping well with the stress. Approximately 20%, however, are experiencing moderate to severe stress (e.g., sleep disturbances, heightened tension) and have mental health symptoms above critical thresholds (see Figure 1). Females and older youth (age 15-18) reported heightened levels of sadness, withdrawal, worry, and nervousness compared to males and younger adolescents (age 12-14).

A uniqueness of the study is asking students to self-report personal, caregiver, and contextual factors representative of resiliency. Over three quarters of students (76.3%) selfreported that, during this period of school re-entry, they felt that their family supported them; less than one in 10 indicated little or no family support. Regarding friends, over two-thirds (68%) of students reported that they felt supported by their friends; just over one in 10 reported little or no support from friends during this return to school.

As student are now settling into the new school year, school divisions are seeking information to make databased decisions about programming and supports for students. Our results serve to inform the measure and scope of school division responses and help to identify key areas of education, health, mental health, and resiliency that can be identified and bolstered. For students in older grades, and for females, additional efforts to monitor and support may be necessary. Results also suggest that training and psychoeducation would benefit frontline staff in schools, including administrators, student support service personnel, and teachers. Follow-up surveys throughout the school year (November, February, and May) will inform how COVID-19 is changing student experiences and behaviour and consequent programs and services.