Quality of life in adolescents. A longitudinal study of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Abstract

Several studies have reported that health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in adolescents has decreased during the COVID-19 pandemic. In this study, HRQoL was analyzed in young people aged 13 to 17 years after the end of the pandemic. For this purpose, we followed up at three different points in time: before the pandemic (2019), during (2021) and after the pandemic restrictions (2022). A time-lag design in three phases was used, with a total of 2027 adolescents completing the Kidscreen-10 HRQoL questionnaire. ANOVA and logistic regression models were used to analyze the influence of gender, playing sports and mental health treatment. The results obtained showed a worsening of HRQoL in 2021, when young people returned to school on a blended learning basis. This worsening occurred regardless of gender. In 2022, once all restrictions were removed, boys recovered health-related quality of life to pre-pandemic levels, but this did not occur in girls. The same happened with young people in mental health treatment. In all cases, doing sports was shown to be a protective factor for HRQoL.