Relationship between adolescent lifestyle and emotional and behavioral problems.

This study aimed at verifying the relationship between lifestyle and emotional and behavioral problems in adolescents. This is an observational and cross-sectional study developed with adolescents from a capital city in the Brazilian Amazon. Data collection was performed using an electronic form containing items from the Fantastic Lifestyle and Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire instruments. For data analysis, the bootstrap t-Test and calculation of Cohen's d statistic value were performed to assess the effect size of the difference between means. A total of 479 adolescents participated in the study. There was a high relationship between emotional and behavioral problems and lifestyle (p < 0.01; d = 1.36), especially regarding emotional problems (p < 0.01; d = 1.09), hyperactivity (p < 0.01; d = 0.92) and peer problems (p < 0.01; d = 0.78). The lifestyle attributes that were highly related to emotional and behavioral problems were insight (p < 0.01; d = 1.30), sleep, seatbelt, stress and safe sex (p < 0.01; d = 0.93), type of behavior (p < 0.01; d = 0.86) and career (p < 0.01; d = 0.85). It is therefore concluded that there was a high relationship between lifestyle and emotional and behavioral problems among the adolescents surveyed. Thus, it becomes necessary to promote socio-emotional skills and restorative and health-protective lifestyles in this population.

COVID-19 impacts and adolescent suicide: The mediating roles of child abuse and mental health conditions.

BACKGROUND: Considerable research has established the harmful impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on children's and adolescents' health and well-being. However, the literature has been constrained by studies using less representative samples, hindering the generalization of the findings. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to investigate the associations of employment disruption and school closures during the pandemic with suicidal ideation and behavior in children and adolescents-and to consider the potential mediating effects of child psychological and physical abuse and subsequent mental health conditions. PARTICIPANTS AND SETTING: This study used the Adolescent Behaviors and Experiences data (n = 4692) - a nationally representative survey administered by the CDC of the United States from January to June 2021. METHODS: Logistic regression models were conducted to investigate the associations. A series of multiple mediation models were performed. RESULTS: School closures directly reduced child psychological and physical abuse and suicidal ideation and behavior. Employment disruption did not directly predict suicidal ideation and behavior but primarily through child abuse. Mental health's mediation role was significant in the associations between child psychological abuse and suicidal ideation and behavior, but no evidence suggested the same mediating pattern for the physical abuse-suicidal ideation and behavior relationship. Within the covariates, sexual orientation was the most consistent and highest risk factor. CONCLUSIONS: This study contributes to current knowledge on disaster impact, child abuse, and suicidal ideation and behavior, and it can also provide policy and intervention awareness for social workers.

A mixed-method study on adolescents' well-being during the COVID-19 syndemic emergency.

In this study, we set out to investigate adolescents' levels of perceived well-being and to map how they went about caring for their well-being during the COVID-19 syndemic. Participants were 229 Italian adolescent high school students (48.9% males, mean age = 16.64). The research design was based on an exploratory, parallel, mixed-method approach. A multi-method, student-centered, computer-assisted, semi-structured online interview was used as the data gathering tool, including both a standardized quantitative questionnaire on perceived well-being and an open-ended question about how adolescents were taking charge of their well-being during the COVID-19 health emergency. Main findings reveal general low levels of perceived well-being during the syndemic, especially in girls and in older adolescents. Higher levels of well-being are associated with more affiliative strategies (we-ness/togetherness) whereas low levels of well-being are linked with more individualistic strategies (I-ness/separatedness) in facing the health emergency. These findings identify access to social support as a strategy for coping with situational stress and raise reflection on the importance of balancing the need for physical distancing to protect from infection, and the need for social closeness to maintain good mental health.

Emotional and behavioral problems in adolescents in the context of COVID-19: a mixed method study.

OBJECTIVE: to estimate the prevalence of emotional and behavioral problems in adolescents in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic e to explore adolescents' perception of emotional and behavioral problems identified. METHOD: mixed-method explanatory sequential design. Participants were 479 adolescents aged 15 to 18 from a Brazilian Central-West region capital. RESULTS: with a total of 479 participants, mean age was 16.03 years (SD=1.01). The prevalence of emotional and behavioral problems was 61.17%, and there was a difference between the sexes (ORb=2.93; p<0.01). The highest prevalence was related to peer relationship problems (54.49%) and emotional symptoms (52.40%). Adolescents noticed an increase in loneliness, anxiety, sadness, distancing from friends and difficulties in socializing during the pandemic. CONCLUSION: most of the investigated adolescents were classified as having emotional and behavioral problems, and girls were more likely to have them than boys. The adolescents' statements reinforce the quantitative findings. In this way, there is a need to implement actions to promote and restore the adolescents' mental health, in order to mitigate the COVID-19 pandemic socio-emotional impact on this population. KEYPOINTS: (1) The COVID-19 pandemic had a negative impact on emotions and behaviors. (2) 61.17% of adolescents were classified as having emotional and behavioral problems (EBPs). (3) Girls presented the highest level of prevalence of EBP in the pandemic context. (4) Peer relationship problems and emotional symptoms were the most prevalent.

Coronavirus disease pandemic and adolescent substance use.

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: Substance use is common in adolescence and has distinct developmental, cognitive, and health consequences. Over the last 2 years, the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic has isolated adolescents, disrupted typical developmental milestones, and caused pervasive stress and anxiety. Healthcare providers can help by recognizing and addressing these effects on adolescent mental health and substance use. This update reviews the immediate effects of the pandemic on adolescent substance use, potential future implications, and opportunities to use new strategies to improve care for adolescents with problematic use. RECENT FINDINGS: Initial findings suggest that fewer teens started using substances during the pandemic. This was likely influenced by stay at home orders that reduced opportunities for social use. However, increased time at home was not beneficial for all adolescents. Furthermore, adolescents who used substances prepandemic, experienced material hardship, or reported higher pandemic-related stress tended to intensify substance use during this time. SUMMARY: The adverse effects of pandemic isolation, anxiety, and developmental disruption will likely have consequences for adolescent substance use for many years to come. To comprehensively address adolescent health, healthcare providers can be sensitive to these realities and use existing screening and brief intervention strategies to address use. Innovative telehealth strategies that allow for the expansion of substance use treatment offer promising opportunities to improve care for adolescents with substance use disorder.

Adverse Childhood Experiences During the COVID-19 Pandemic and Associations with Poor Mental Health and Suicidal Behaviors Among High School Students - Adolescent Behaviors and Experiences Survey, United States, January-June 2021.

Social and educational disruptions during the COVID-19 pandemic have exacerbated concerns about adolescents' mental health and suicidal behavior. Data from the 2021 Adolescent Behaviors and Experiences Survey (ABES) indicate that 37.1% of U.S. high school students reported poor mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic, with 19.9% considering and 9.0% attempting suicide in the preceding year (1). Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs)* are associated with poor mental health and suicidal behaviors (2,3), and high prevalence of some ACEs have been documented during the pandemic (4). ACEs are preventable, potentially traumatic events that occur in childhood (ages 0-17 years) such as neglect, experiencing or witnessing violence, or having a family member attempt or die by suicide. Also included are aspects of a child's environment that can undermine their sense of safety, stability, and bonding. Associations between ACEs occurring during the pandemic and mental health or suicidal behaviors among U.S. high school students were examined using ABES data. Experience of one to two ACEs was associated with poorer mental health and increased suicidal behaviors, and these deleterious outcomes increased with additional ACE exposure. After adjusting for demographic characteristics, adolescents who reported four or more ACEs during the pandemic had a prevalence of poor current mental health four times as high as, and a prevalence of past-year suicide attempts 25 times as high as, those without ACEs during the pandemic. Experience of specific ACE types (e.g., emotional abuse) was associated with higher prevalences of poor mental health and suicidal behaviors. Prevention and intervention strategies (5), including early identification and trauma-informed mental health service and support provision, for ACEs and their acute and long-term impacts could help address the U.S. child and adolescent mental health and suicide crisis.†.

Promoting positive emotions and instilling concern for the needs of others during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The purpose of this research is to study the efficacy of the home-based Hero program in promoting positive emotions and prosocial behavior during the COVID-19 pandemic. The sample included 237 12- to 15-year-old adolescents from Argentina. The level of positive emotions and prosocial behavior toward strangers, friends and family in the adolescent intervention group increased through the three evaluation periods. The Hero program was focused on recognizing one's own emotions and provided an opportunity to reflect on different positive aspects of life, thus allowing a change in perspective related to immediate negative events. Moreover, the program provided an opportunity to change adolescents' perspective from personal worries to concerns about others, including friends, family members, and even strangers in need.

Associations of connectedness and parental behaviors with adolescent physical activity and mental health during COVID-19: A mediation analysis using the 2021 adolescent behaviors and experiences survey.

The purpose of this study was to examine the associations of connectedness and parental behaviors with adolescent physical activity (PA) and mental health during COVID-19. Participants were a representative sample of US high school students who completed the 2021 Adolescent Behaviors and Experiences Survey (ABES; N = 7705; 50.4% female). ABES was completed online during the spring of 2021 and data were analyzed during the spring of 2022. Independent variables were items asking about perceived school and virtual connectedness, parental emotional abuse, and parental monitoring. Latent variables represented both PA and mental health. Two weighted structural equation models tested the associations between connectedness, parental behaviors, and mental health mediated through PA (Model 1) and between connectedness, parental behaviors, and PA mediated through mental health (Model 2) with indirect effect confidence intervals obtained using Monte Carlo simulations. School connectedness directly associated with better mental health in Model 1 (ß = 0.17, p < 0.001) and with higher PA in Model 2 (ß = 0.19, p < 0.001) while virtual connectedness directly associated with higher PA in Model 2 (ß = 0.08, p < 0.001). Parental emotional abuse directly associated with poorer mental health in Model 1 (ß = -0.43, p < 0.001). Standardized indirect effects to better mental health mediated through higher PA were observed for school connectedness (IE = 0.017, p < 0.001) and virtual connectedness (IE = 0.007, p < 0.001) and indirect effects to lower PA mediated through poorer mental health were observed for parental emotional abuse (IE = -0.050, p < 0.001). Perceptions of school and virtual connectedness and parental emotional abuse both directly and indirectly impacted adolescent PA and mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Short- and Long-Term Impacts of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Suicide-Related Mental Health in Korean Adolescents.

This study investigated the short-term (in 2020) and long-term (in 2021) impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on suicide-related characteristics in Korean adolescents in comparison with the pre-pandemic period (in 2019) and examined the factors associated with those impacts. Secondary data of the cross-sectional 15th-17th (2019-2021) Korea Youth Risk Behavior Web-based Survey targeting adolescents in school were utilized. The proportions of adolescents with depression, suicidal ideation, suicide planning, and suicide attempts were 26.5%, 12.2%, 3.7%, and 2.4%, respectively. Following an adjustment, depression, suicidal ideation, and suicide attempts significantly improved in the short term and depression and suicide attempts improved significantly in the long term (i.e., 2021), albeit to a lesser degree. The associated variables in the short-term analysis (i.e., 2020) reflected the socioeconomic vulnerabilities (e.g., lower household socioeconomic status [SES], unhealthy status, and unhealthy behaviors), as well as the socioeconomically favorable indicators (e.g., high household SES and high academic achievement). In the long-term, suicidal ideation was no longer associated with a lack of engagement in hand washing, and suicide attempts were no longer associated with the amount of internet time used for studying. For a successful suicide prevention, it is necessary to develop in-school interventions that address the relevant factors identified in this study and the community-based interventions that target out-of-school adolescents.

Daily prosocial actions during the COVID-19 pandemic contribute to giving behavior in adolescence.

Prosocial actions are a building block for developing mature and caring social relations. However, the global pandemic may hamper adolescents' prosocial actions. In this preregistered study, we examined the extent to which adolescents provided daily emotional support during the COVID-19 pandemic. In total, 10-25-year-old high school and university students participated at three timepoints (N = 888 at the first timepoint (May 2020); 494 at the second timepoint (Nov 2020) and 373 at the third timepoint (May 2021)). At the first and second timepoint, participants completed 2 weeks of daily diaries on providing emotional support. At all timepoints, participants performed Dictator Games to measure giving to peers, friends and COVID-19 targets (medical doctors, COVID-19 patients, individuals with a poor immune system). Across the three timepoints, adolescents gave more to COVID-19 targets than peers and friends, but giving to COVID-19 target was highest in the beginning of the pandemic (first timepoint relative to second and third timepoint). Results from the first timepoint showed that emotional support directed to friends peaked in mid-adolescence, whereas emotional support towards family members showed a gradual increase from childhood to young adulthood. Furthermore, daily emotional support increased between the first and second timepoint. Daily emotional support to friends predicted giving behavior to all targets, whereas emotional support to family was specifically associated with giving to COVID-19 targets. These findings elucidate the relation between daily actions and prosocial giving to societally-relevant targets in times of crisis, underlying the importance of prosocial experiences during adolescence.

Risk Behaviors, Family Support, and Emotional Health among Adolescents during the COVID-19 Pandemic in Israel.

We investigated the prevalence of risk behaviors among Israeli adolescents (tobacco smoking, alcohol consumption, drug use) during the COVID-19 pandemic. Associations between different risk behaviors were examined and so was whether specific characteristics could predict risk behaviors in adolescents. The study consisted of 1020 Israeli adolescents aged 15-18. Study subjects completed an online survey between the first and second lockdowns in Israel (April 2020 to September 2020). Participants reported the frequency at which they engaged in four different risky behaviors: general risky behavior, tobacco smoking, alcohol consumption (binge drinking), and cannabis use. The most prevalent risky behavior in the sample was binge drinking (33.8%). The four measured risky behaviors were significantly correlated. Among participants who had previously engaged in a risky behavior assessed, most did not change the behavior frequency during the pandemic. All independent variables (sociodemographic characteristics, family support, and emotional, health excluding friends' support, physical activity volume, and coronavirus restrictions) were significantly different between participants engaging vs. not engaging in risky behaviors. Our findings suggest that family support is one of the most influential factors in preventing risky behavior during the pandemic, and they emphasize the importance of family-based interventions with children and adolescents from elementary to high school.

Disruptions to School and Home Life Among High School Students During the COVID-19 Pandemic - Adolescent Behaviors and Experiences Survey, United States, January-June 2021.

Youths have experienced disruptions to school and home life since the COVID-19 pandemic began in March 2020. During January-June 2021, CDC conducted the Adolescent Behaviors and Experiences Survey (ABES), an online survey of a probability-based, nationally representative sample of U.S. public- and private-school students in grades 9-12 (N = 7,705). ABES data were used to estimate the prevalence of disruptions and adverse experiences during the pandemic, including parental and personal job loss, homelessness, hunger, emotional or physical abuse by a parent or other adult at home, receipt of telemedicine, and difficulty completing schoolwork. Prevalence estimates are presented for all students and by sex, race and ethnicity, grade, sexual identity, and difficulty completing schoolwork. Since the beginning of the pandemic, more than half of students found it more difficult to complete their schoolwork (66%) and experienced emotional abuse by a parent or other adult in their home (55%). Prevalence of emotional and physical abuse by a parent or other adult in the home was highest among students who identified as gay, lesbian, or bisexual (74% emotional abuse and 20% physical abuse) and those who identified as other or questioning (76% and 13%) compared with students who identified as heterosexual (50% and 10%). Overall, students experienced insecurity via parental job loss (29%), personal job loss (22%), and hunger (24%). Disparities by sex and by race and ethnicity also were noted. Understanding health disparities and student disruptions and adverse experiences as interconnected problems can inform school and community initiatives that promote adolescent health and well-being. With community support to provide coordinated, cross-sector programming, schools can facilitate linkages to services that help students address the adverse experiences that they faced during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Public health and health care professionals, communities, schools, families, and adolescents can use these findings to better understand how students' lives have been affected during the pandemic and what challenges need to be addressed to promote adolescent health and well-being during and after the pandemic.

Perceived Racism and Demographic, Mental Health, and Behavioral Characteristics Among High School Students During the COVID-19 Pandemic - Adolescent Behaviors and Experiences Survey, United States, January-June 2021.

Perceived racism in school (i.e., a student's report of being treated badly or unfairly because of their race or ethnicity) is an important yet understudied determinant of adolescent health and well-being. Knowing how perceived racism influences adolescent health can help reduce health inequities. CDC's 2021 Adolescent Behaviors and Experiences Survey (ABES), an online survey of a probability-based, nationally representative sample of U.S. public- and private-school students in grades 9-12 (N = 7,705), was conducted during January-June 2021 to assess student behaviors during the COVID-19 pandemic. CDC analyzed data from ABES to measure perceived racism and the extent to which perceptions of racism are associated with demographic, mental health, and behavioral characteristics. Mental health and behavioral characteristics analyzed included mental health status; virtual connection with others outside of school; serious difficulty concentrating, remembering, or making decisions; and feeling close to persons at school. Demographic characteristics analyzed included sex, race and ethnicity, and grade. Prevalence of perceived racism and associations between perceived racism and demographic, mental health, and behavioral characteristics are reported overall and stratified by race and ethnicity. Approximately one third (35.6%) of U.S. high school students reported perceived racism. Perceived racism was highest among Asian (63.9%), Black (55.2%), and multiracial students (54.5%). Students who reported perceived racism had higher prevalences of poor mental health (38.1%); difficulty concentrating, remembering, or making decisions (44.1%); and not feeling close to persons at school (40.7%). Perceived racism was higher among those students who reported poor mental health than those who did not report poor mental health during the pandemic among Asian (67.9% versus 40.5%), Black (62.1% versus 38.5%), Hispanic (45.7% and 22.9%), and White students (24.5% versus 12.7%). A better understanding of how negative health outcomes are associated with student experiences of racism can guide training for staff and students to promote cultural awareness and antiracist and inclusivity interventions, which are critical for promoting safe school environments for all students.

Mental Health, Suicidality, and Connectedness Among High School Students During the COVID-19 Pandemic - Adolescent Behaviors and Experiences Survey, United States, January-June 2021.

Disruptions and consequences related to the COVID-19 pandemic, including school closures, social isolation, family economic hardship, family loss or illness, and reduced access to health care, raise concerns about their effects on the mental health and well-being of youths. This report uses data from the 2021 Adolescent Behaviors and Experiences Survey, an online survey of a probability-based, nationally representative sample of U.S. public- and private-school students in grades 9-12 (N = 7,705), to assess U.S. high school students' mental health and suicidality during the COVID-19 pandemic. The study also examines whether mental health and suicidality are associated with feeling close to persons at school and being virtually connected to others during the pandemic. Overall, 37.1% of students experienced poor mental health during the pandemic, and 31.1% experienced poor mental health during the preceding 30 days. In addition, during the 12 months before the survey, 44.2% experienced persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness, 19.9% had seriously considered attempting suicide, and 9.0% had attempted suicide. Compared with those who did not feel close to persons at school, students who felt close to persons at school had a significantly lower prevalence of poor mental health during the pandemic (28.4% versus 45.2%) and during the past 30 days (23.5% versus 37.8%), persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness (35.4% versus 52.9%), having seriously considered attempting suicide (14.0% versus 25.6%), and having attempted suicide (5.8% versus 11.9%). The same pattern was observed among students who were virtually connected to others during the pandemic (i.e., with family, friends, or other groups by using a computer, telephone, or other device) versus those who were not. Comprehensive strategies that improve feelings of connectedness with others in the family, in the community, and at school might foster improved mental health among youths during and after the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Role of Empathy in Chinese Adolescents' Preventive Health Behavior During COVID-19.

PURPOSE: Preventive health behavior during COVID-19 protects not only oneself but also the welfare of others. However, little attention has been paid to prosocial motivation in adolescents, who are often viewed as selfish and egocentric. Therefore, the current study aimed to explore the role of empathy in adolescents' preventive health behavior using longitudinal data. METHODS: A total of 442 Chinese adolescents (mean age of youth = 13.35 years; 49.5% girls and 50.5% boys) completed two-wave longitudinal surveys over the span of two months during the pandemic (Time 1: July 2020; Time 2: September 2020). At T1, participants reported on their empathic concern, perspective taking, and concern for personal health. At both T1 and T2, participants reported on their preventive health behavior and COVID-related worry. RESULTS: Adolescents who showed greater empathic concern tend to engage in more preventive health behavior over time (p < .01). However, greater empathic concern also predicted adolescents' greater worry about COVID-19 over time (p < .01). In comparison, adolescents' perspective-taking and concern for personal health did not predict their health behavior or worry over time. Notably, the longitudinal effect of empathic concern on preventive health behavior and COVID-related worry remained (ps < .05) after taking into account adolescents' perspective-taking and concern for personal health. CONCLUSIONS: These findings highlight adolescents' prosocial motivation in engaging in preventive health behavior during the pandemic and also point out the potential negative influence of empathic concern on adolescent mental health.

Changes in Dietary Habits and Exercise Pattern of Korean Adolescents from Prior to during the COVID-19 Pandemic.

This study aimed to investigate changes in the exercise pattern and dietary habits in adolescents during the COVID-19 pandemic. The 12-18-year-old population in the Korea Youth Risk Behavior Web-Based Survey data of 2019 and 2020 was enrolled. The exercise pattern and dietary habits of 105,600 participants (53,461 in the 2019 group and 52,139 in the 2020 group) were compared. The odds ratios (ORs) for the dietary habits and exercise pattern of the 2020 group compared to the 2019 group were analyzed using multiple logistic regression analysis with complex sampling. The odds of eating fruit, drinking soda, drinking sweet drinks, and consuming fast food were lower in the 2020 group than in the 2019 group (all p < 0.001). The odds of eating breakfast were higher in the 2020 group than in the 2019 group (all p < 0.001). The 2020 group showed lower odds of frequent vigorous and moderate aerobic exercise and higher odds of frequent anaerobic exercise than the 2019 group (all p < 0.001). During the COVID-19 pandemic, adolescents consumed less fruit, soda, and sweet drinks, while they had more breakfast. The frequency of aerobic exercise was lower, while the frequency of anaerobic exercise were higher during the COVID-19 pandemic period.

Social and psychological effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on middle-school students: Attendance options and changes over time.

The purpose of this study was to determine whether restrictions put in place during the COVID-19 pandemic affected the social and psychological well-being of early adolescent schoolchildren. Participants were 309 youth (51% female, average age = 12.38 years) enrolled in the sixth, seventh, or eighth grades of a single middle school located in northeastern Pennsylvania, a state that took a moderately proactive approach to the pandemic. Employing a cross-sectional design, students in three instructional conditions (100% in-person, hybrid, 100% online) were compared on nine outcome measures (perceived parental support, perceived parental knowledge, peer deviance, neutralization, cognitive impulsivity, depression, delinquency, bullying victimization, and bullying perpetration). There were no significant between-groups differences, although there was a borderline significant effect for depression (100% online > 100% in-person, p = .06). A second set of analyses employed a longitudinal design and compared 174 children who completed the test battery in November 2019, 3 months before the start of the pandemic, and then again in November 2020, 9 months after the start of the pandemic. Three out of nine outcomes displayed significant change: A small reduction in parental support and modest increments in neutralization beliefs and cognitive impulsivity. Although there were no statistically significant differences between the three instructional conditions and only a handful of relatively small and predictable longitudinal changes between November 2019 and November 2020, there were a fair number of individual students who experienced moderate (≥ 50%) increases in depression (17.6%), cognitive impulsivity (15.8%), and bullying victimization (11.7%). (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

Individual differences in adolescent mental health during COVID-19: The importance of peer relationship quality.

Lockdowns and school closures deprive adolescents of typical social interactions. In this NeuroView, we explore how the quality of existing peer relationships might moderate-both positively and negatively-the impact of these restrictions on adolescent mental health, and we highlight the importance of individual differences.

Moderation of Technology Use in the Association Between Self-Isolation During COVID-19 Pandemic and Adolescents' Romantic Relationship Quality.

The purpose of this study was to examine the moderating effects of technology use for relationship maintenance on the longitudinal associations among self-isolation during the coronavirus-19 (COVID-19) pandemic and romantic relationship quality among adolescents. Participants were 239 (120 female; M age = 16.69, standard deviation [SD] = 0.61; 60 percent Caucasian) 11th and 12th graders from three midwestern high schools. To qualify for this study, adolescents had to be in the same romantic relationship for the duration of the study, ∼7 months (M length of relationship = 10.03 months). Data were collected in October of 2019 (Time 1) and again 7 months later in May of 2020 (Time 2). Adolescents completed a romantic relationship questionnaire at Time 1 and again at Time 2, along with questionnaires on frequency of self-isolation during the COVID-19 pandemic and use of technology for romantic relationship maintenance. Findings revealed that increases in self-isolation during the COVID-19 pandemic related positively to the use of technology for romantic relationship maintenance and negatively to Time 2 romantic relationship quality. High use of technology for romantic relationship maintenance buffered against the negative effects of self-isolation during the COVID-19 pandemic on adolescents' romantic relationship quality 7 months later, whereas low use strengthened the negative relationship between self-isolation during the COVID-19 pandemic and romantic relationship quality. These findings suggest the importance of considering the implications of societal crisis or pandemics on adolescents' close relationships, particularly their romantic relationships.