Nearly half of Maltese children (47%) were flourishing during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, but a small proportion (11%) were languishing in their wellbeing.
This emerged in the research report issued by the Centre for Resilience & Socio-Emotional Health within the University of Malta.
For this study, an online survey examining subjective wellbeing, depression, anxiety, resilience, coping strategies and the positive and negative aspects of the pandemic, was completed by more than 450 students attending middle and secondary schools in Malta and Gozo.
The report describes the state of wellbeing and mental health of the participants during the school closure, and the protective strategies which helped them to cope with the challenges of COVID-19 and promoted their mental health and wellbeing.
It underlines the key role of resilience in promoting positive mental health and protecting against mental health problems amongst adolescents during challenging times. This study has been carried out by the Centre in collaboration with Flinders University, Australia.
The report may be accessed online.