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Mental Health and Adolescents

In early 2020, the coronavirus pandemic, first detected in late 2019, afflicted the world. The disease associated with the virus became known as COVID-19. COVID-19 was recognized as a highly contagious and deadly disease. In California, United States, COVID-19 was detected in February and the first shelter-in-place orders were ordered by the counties and state, which forced children and adults to stay at home and attend school and work virtually. Shelter-in-place orders were quickly implemented around the world. As the world began this sudden switch in lifestyle, many were concerned for the mental health and safety of themselves and their family members. Although adolescents are known to be resilient when faced with adversity, the issues of mental health for this age group should not be taken lightly. This thesis explores how the COVID-19 pandemic affects the mental health of adolescents through a review of the research literature. This paper also assesses the interventions that some of the studies introduced to help adolescents cope with depression, anxiety, and stress. Although interventions implemented have shown a positive effect, there is still much to learn. Based on the literature review, this thesis proposes a study for further research which aims to gain more insight into the phenomenon of teenagers' mental health during the restrictions to socialization and movement required by shelter-in-place orders during a global crisis. A control group and an intervention group will be analyzed to measure levels of depression, anxiety, and sleep quality. Specifically, the goals are to help spread awareness of adolescent mental health during these challenging times and to investigate ways to support this population during this time, more than one year after the beginning of the pandemic.