Overview of portfolio

The COVID-19 pandemic and resulting social distancing measures resulted in widespread disruption to the daily lives and routines of people across the globe. Adolescents are a group that endured particular disruption to their social lives, education and family functioning. Adolescence is a period of development marked by changes to social, biological and psychological functioning. For some, adolescence is the point where mental health problems can begin to emerge. Targeting interventions at this critical stage of development may prevent the onset and development of diagnosable mental health problems. This thesis aims to explore the impact of the UK COVID-19 pandemic and lockdown on a diverse group of adolescents living in London. Both parts of the thesis use existing data from the Resilience Ethnicity and Adolescent Mental Health (REACH) study. Part A uses quantitative questionnaire data to explore the impact of disruption to social connectedness on psychotic like experiences (PLEs) in adolescents during the pandemic. Findings show that young people who reported changes to the quality of relationships with family for the worse, and those who reported feeling lonely during the pandemic were more likely to experience PLEs. Targeting the modifiable risk factor of social connectedness in adolescence could have implications for protecting against the onset of diagnosable metal health problems. Part B uses Reflexive Thematic Analysis to analyse qualitative interview data, exploring how young people navigated home life and changes to family dynamics during the UK lockdown. Findings show that many young people struggled with managing the shift in dynamics with their families as a result of the pandemic. Young people found that disruption to social contact outside of the family system, limited physical space and an increase in responsibilities impacted their wellbeing. This study has implications for the targeting of support to families, particularly the most disadvantaged.