Anxiety in a COVID-19 school year context: three-way longitudinal study on Slovenian adolescent sample.

Background and objectives: We investigated the trajectories of anxiety, general anxiety and more specifically COVID-19 anxiety in the period of school closure in Slovenia using a longitudinal design with three time points: at the beginning, in the middle and at the end of the school year.

Design and methods: We have used data from a representative adolescent sample for Slovenia (n = 1233) and two anxiety scales: the LAOM Anxiety Scale and the COVID-19 Anxiety Scale. The findings from latent growth curve models show a significant difference in initial levels and a decrease in both types of anxiety as well as an interaction effect between the initial level and the rate of change of COVID-19 anxiety. In addition to investigating the change in time, we were interested in covariates.

Results and conclusions: The findings show significant effects of: (a) gender, school level and academic achievement on initial levels of COVID-19 anxiety; (b) gender and school level on initial levels of anxiety; (c) gender on the rate of change in anxiety; (d) academic achievement on the rate of change in COVID-19 anxiety; and, additionally, (e) the significant but different role that school belongingness plays in anxiety and in particular COVID-19 anxiety.