Coping with the ‘new (ab)normal’ in school: an EMA study of youth coping with the return to in-person education during the COVID-19 pandemic

Many concerns exist about potential long-term psychosocial impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on young people. While the school has been identified as having a vital role in psychological recovery post-disaster more generally, it is unclear as yet how young people have adapted to the return to in-person education. This paper reports on the preliminary findings from an intensive Ecological Momentary Analysis exploration of the affective wellbeing, experiences and coping of 82 Irish second-level students. The participants were found to experience more positive than negative events, and to have moderate-high levels of positive affect and perceived coping during the 7-day period of monitoring. However, the findings also suggest that some students, particularly those with pre-existing psychological difficulties, may be in need of additional targeted support. Accordingly, it is recommended that in the short to medium-term, second-level schools should strive to prioritise the psychological recovery and resilience of students such as through an emphasis on re-establishing and consolidating a sense of student connectedness.