Do online classes during school closures impact students’ mental health?

New research published in Psychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences Reports suggests that implementing online classes during COVID-19–related school closures in Japan may have helped protect adolescents’ mental health.

For the study, researchers conducted anonymous surveys from October 1 to November 7, 2020 in 21 junior and senior high schools in the Saitama prefecture of Japan. A total of 5,000 students agreed to participate, and implementation of online classes was reported by 78.2% of classroom teachers.

Implementation of online classes was associated with lower rates of emotional symptoms and smartphone addiction, but not related to psychotic experience (hearing voices that other people cannot hear).

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