What did you find?

”We observe a significant decrease in how upper-secondary students [ages 17–19] utilise psychiatric care, especially concerning depression and anxiety, during the early stages of the pandemic in spring 2020. The decrease persists at least until the end of 2021, nine months after schools were reopened,” says Jonas Vlachos, professor of economics at Stockholm University.

How did you conduct the study?

”We compared how healthcare visits and psychiatric medication prescriptions developed among all upper-secondary students and lower-secondary schools [ages 14–16] in the country before, during, and after the period when high schools were closed. From 2015 until the pandemic, the development is similar for the student groups, but during the school closures, a difference arises that we observe even in 2021 when the study concluded.”

Jonas Vlachos continues:

”Healthcare contacts among upper-secondary students decreased by over 4 percent. The decrease is concentrated in academic preparatory programmes, the group that was most exposed to remote instruction.”

Remote instruction may have unexpected benefits for mental health.

What could be the societal impact of these results?

”Remote instruction may have unexpected benefits for mental health, which is in line with a couple of recently published American studies. The school environment is stressful for many, and there is a need to further study the impact of schools on students’ well-being," he says.

Text by: Anneli Eriksson