The COVID-19 pandemic, well-being and transitions to post-secondary education

The study investigates the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on well-being and how changes in well-being at the transition to post-secondary education affect educational plans and outcomes. 

The unique panel data contains prospective survey information on three dimensions of well-being: mental health problems, self-rated health, and life satisfaction for 3,697 students. Data was collected before (fall 2019), coinciding with (spring 2020), and several months after (fall/winter 2020/21) the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Applying difference-in-differences designs, random effect growth curve models, and linear regression models, shows that school closures had a positive immediate effect on students’ well-being but well-being strongly declined over the course of the pandemic, mainly concentrated among the 2021 graduation cohort.

Finally, a strong decline in mental health is associated with changes in educational and career plans and transition outcomes. As adverse life experiences in adolescence are likely to accumulate over the life course, this study is the first to exhibit potential long-lasting negative effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on education and careers of young individuals.

This event will be particularly useful for those interested in quantitative social science, well-being, COVID-19, education and post-secondary transitions.

Related links

• QSS seminar series
• Quantitative Social Science (QSS)
• Centre for Longitudinal Studies (CLS)
• Social Research Institute