A new survey in the US has found that Americans aged 13 to 56 think the pandemic has made some parts of their lives difficult, but Generation Z, born in the late 1990s, is experiencing greater difficulties in education and in their romantic lives. Health experts say the survey is consistent, as teens report higher rates of anxiety and depression after months of distance learning.
Isolation, anxiety and uncertainty. The stressors caused by the Corona virus pandemic have harmed people of all ages. But a new survey in the US has shown that teenagers and young adults face some of the toughest challenges of their developmental age during this time of intense turmoil.
More than a third of Americans aged 13 to 56 said the pandemic was a major source of stress, many of whom said it was making certain parts of their lives difficult.
When it comes to education, friendships, and dating, adversity has had a significant impact among Generation Z, born in the late 1990s, according to a survey by MTV Entertainment Group and the Associated Press-NORC Public Relations Research Center.
The survey included Generation Z Americans aged 13 to 24. While 46 percent of this group say that the pandemic has made it difficult to reach their educational or career goals, this rate is 36 percent for Generation Y (born between 1980-2000) and 31 percent for Generation X (born between 1965-1980). similar. 40 percent of Gen Z say they face difficulties in these areas as well.
Forty-five percent of Gen Z also reported having more difficulty maintaining good relationships with their friends. In the X generation, this rate was determined as 39 percent.
Although many millennials also said that friendships are more difficult, millennials are less likely to think that the pandemic has actually made it easier than millennials. 18 percent of millennials and 24 percent of millennials think that the pandemic facilitates friendships.
But all respondents to the survey, including Gen Z, said the pandemic has led to difficulties in having fun and the struggle to maintain mental health.
The results are not surprising, according to health and education experts
The findings are consistent with what health and education professionals have observed. After months of distance learning and limited social interaction, teens and young adults report higher rates of depression and anxiety. Many are also trying to deal with academic setbacks during online education.
From Seattle Children’s Hospital, Dr. Cora Breuner said the big impact on children and adolescents is partly due to where they are in their brain development. Childhood and adolescence are seen as the periods when people see the most change in the complex mental skills needed to sustain daily life.
Breuner, pediatrician, says, “When you isolate learning, reduce social interaction with peers, and add parents struggling with problems like this to the equation, it’s an unusual storm. This means that while young people fall behind in school, they don’t develop the skills needed to deal with stress and make decisions. He’s coming,” he said.
The uncertainty brought by the pandemic this fall has been the biggest concern for all generations. 35 percent of respondents described the epidemic as a major source of stress. And 29 percent of respondents said that the fear of contracting COVID-19 is a serious source of stress.
Compared to other generations, Gen Z sees education as a core part of their identity, according to the survey. Nearly two-thirds of Gen Z said their education was very or extremely important to their identity, compared to half of Gen Y and 4 out of 10 Gen Xs.
Vilmaris González, who runs youth programs for the Education Trust, a nonprofit educational organization in Tennessee, said it’s no surprise that young people also see education as a potential barrier.
“As many face learning challenges due to the pandemic, they are also stepping into a world where the future of employment and higher education is more uncertain than ever before,” González said. “I am sure we will not understand the severity of these effects for years. This pandemic will leave its mark on their generation forever,” he said.
The AP-NORC survey of 3,764 teenagers aged 13 to 17 and adults aged 18 to 56, interview samples from NORC’s probability-based AmeriSpeak Panel, designed to represent the US population September 1-19, and optional online made using the interviews in the panels. The margin of sampling error for all respondents is plus or minus 3.3 percent. The AmeriSpeak panel of participants is randomly selected using address-based sampling methods, and participants are then interviewed online or by phone.