Analysis of adolescents' views on the role of vaccination and limitations in psychosocial functioning during the COVID-19 pandemic

Horoszkiewicz, Krzysztof & Horoszkiewicz, Bartosz. Analysis of adolescents’ views on the role of vaccination and limitations in psychosocial functioning during the COVID-19 pandemic. Journal of Education, Health and Sport. 2022;12(12):158-165. eISSN 2391-8306. DOI http://dx.doi.org/10.12775/JEHS.2022.12.12.025 https://apcz.umk.pl/JEHS/article/view/40114 https://zenodo.org/record/7332225 The journal has had 40 points in Ministry of Education and Science of Poland parametric evaluation. Annex to the announcement of the Minister of Education and Science of December 21, 2021. No. 32343. Has a Journal's Unique Identifier: 201159. Scientific disciplines assigned: Physical Culture Sciences (Field of Medical sciences and health sciences); Health Sciences (Field of Medical Sciences and Health Sciences). Punkty Ministerialne z 2019 - aktualny rok 40 punktów. Załącznik do komunikatu Ministra Edukacji i Nauki z dnia 21 grudnia 2021 r. Lp. 32343. Posiada Unikatowy Identyfikator Czasopisma: 201159. Przypisane dyscypliny naukowe: Nauki o kulturze fizycznej (Dziedzina nauk medycznych i nauk o zdrowiu); Nauki o zdrowiu (Dziedzina nauk medycznych i nauk o zdrowiu). © The Authors 2022; This article is published with open access at Licensee Open Journal Systems of Nicolaus Copernicus University in Torun, Poland Open Access. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial License which permits any noncommercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author (s) and source are credited. This is an open access article licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non commercial license Share alike. (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/) which permits unrestricted, non commercial use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the work is properly cited. The authors declare that there is no conflict of interests regarding the publication of this paper. Received: 19.09.2022. Revised: 10.11.2022. Accepted: 15.11.2022. Analysis of adolescents' views on the role of vaccination and limitations in psychosocial functioning during the COVID-19 pandemic Krzysztof Horoszkiewicz, https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6719-256X e-mail: kontakt@horeszko.eu Psychological-Educational Counselling Centre, Poland, Rogoźno, Wojska Polskiego 1 Bartosz Horoszkiewicz, https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7321-514X e-mail: bhoroszkiewicz00@gmail.com SWPS University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Psychology Poland, 61-719 Poznań, Kutrzeby 10 Abstract Background. The COVID-19 pandemic has forced entering numerous changes and restrictions on daily psychosocial functioning. The purpose of our research was to explore the views of adolescents aged 14-20 years attending secondary schools on the role of vaccination and the restrictions put in place during the COVID-19 pandemic. Material and methods. The study was conducted with 504 secondary school students in a small town in Poland. Students were aged between 14 and 20 years (M = 16.6, SD = 1.3). The groups were homogeneous in terms of age and gender. 250 males (M = 16.5; SD = 1.3) and 254 females (M = 16.7; SD = 1.4) completed the sheets. The survey took place between January 7 and 11, 2022. The study used the author's “Pandemic and My Life” survey method. It contained 7 closed-ended questions covering adolescents' attitudes towards COVID-19. Results. More than half of the students have been vaccinated against COVID-19, and they are convinced of the effectiveness of the vaccines. Females were more likely to reveal anxiety before infection. Despite the presence of the COVID-19 virus in many families’ homes, concerns about infection were rather small. A great number of the respondents assessed restrictions as “more burdensome than beneficial”. Males were more prone to accepting distant education. There was a relationship between students' fear of the COVID-19 infection and the anxiety observed by pupils in their families. Conclusions. The majority of the adolescents surveyed have been vaccinated against COVID-19 and have positive opinions about the effectiveness of the vaccines. There is a strong polarisation of views on some issues. The results obtained can be helpful in building preventive programmes and shaping pupils' health-promoting attitudes. Keywords: COVID-19 pandemic; anxiety; vaccines; mental health promotion; distance education, online learnin