Abstract
Previous research has lacked a comprehensive, longitudinal analysis of characteristics of solitude and sociability, and how they are associated with changes in psychosocial adjustment before and during the pandemic. The current study surveyed 1071 adolescents (Mage = 10.6, SD = 1.69, 49.86% female, age range = 8–14 years at Year 1) over six years (three years before pandemic, three years during pandemic). Piecewise linear mixed-effects analysis showed that adolescents with higher solitude and lower sociability reported improvements in adjustment during the pandemic, whereas adolescents with lower solitude and higher sociability reported declines in adjustment. The findings highlight the importance of considering multiple characteristics of solitude and sociability, as well as contextual factors (e.g., pandemic), to better understand the implications of solitude on adolescent adjustment.
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Given that missingness was quite high in years 4−6, we tested whether the change in the slope from before the pandemic to after the onset of the pandemic was affected by missing data. The piecewise linear mixed-effects models were re-run to assess whether the change in the slope from before to during the pandemic depended on missingness during pandemic waves (coded as 0 = present for 2 or 3 waves from years 4−6, 1 = missing for 2 or 3 waves from years 4−6). There were no significant interactions between missingness during pandemic waves and the change in the slope from before the pandemic to after the onset of the pandemic. Further, even with the interaction term included in the model, all significant main effects reported in the current study still came through. This result suggests that the patterns of adjustment trajectories for each latent profile group are consistent regardless of missing data.
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MEB conceived of the study, performed the statistical analysis, created visualizations, and drafted the manuscript; TW conceived of the study, facilitated data collection, participated in performing the statistical analysis, and helped to draft the manuscript. Both authors read and approved the final manuscript.
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This study was supported by a grant from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research to Teena Willoughby.
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Borg, M.E., Willoughby, T. Longitudinal Changes in Psychosocial Adjustment Before and During the COVID-19 Pandemic for Adolescents with Differential Patterns of Solitude and Sociability. J. Youth Adolescence (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-024-02004-8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-024-02004-8