CHANGES IN MENTAL HEALTH AND LIFESTYLE HABITS OF KOREAN ADOLESCENTS DUE TO COVID-19 PANDEMIC

Abstract Background The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has had a wide-ranging impact on the lives and mental health of adolescents. Aims & Objectives We need to assess changes in adolescents' mental health and lifestyle habits. Method We conducted a secondary analysis using from a national cross-sectional cohort (Korean Youth Risk Behavior Web-Based Survey, KYRBS) collected before the COVID-19 outbreak (2018, 2019), during the pandemic (2020, 2021), and after the pandemic (2022). Results The degree of recovery from fatigue due to sleep showed improvement after the outbreak of the pandemic, but showed a pattern of worsening after the pandemic ended. The physical activity time has actually decreased due to the pandemic. Even though physical activity time has increased since the end of the pandemic, sleep quality appears to have decreased. The frequency of feeling sad and desperate decreased slightly during the pandemic, but increased after the pandemic compared to before the pandemic. Suicide-related indicators of suicidal thoughts, plans, and attempts also showed the same pattern, decreasing during the pandemic and then increasing again. the rate of male students experiencing sadness increased significantly after the end of the pandemic. Discussion & Conclusion Mental health-related problems among adolescents in Korea appear to be equal to or more severe than before the outbreak of the pandemic. We can see that the end of the COVID-19 pandemic cannot be equated with the end of the threat to youth mental health.