The Impact of COVID-19 School Learning Modality on Child Mental Health

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has affected the health, economic life and social norms of millions worldwide. The success and effectiveness of non-pharmaceutical intervention (NPIs) are important to our understanding of future pandemics. In the US, a prominent yet controversial NPI, remote-hybrid learning, was widely adopted to reduce transmission risks while vaccines were still being developed and distributed. The adoption of remote-hybrid learning in the US varied by geographic region and time. Considerable evidence has shown that it decreased student learning and widened achievement gaps. However, current evidence on its impact on children’s mental health is mixed. Remote-hybrid learning might improve mental health outcomes as it reduces negative exposures often experienced at schools. Or it may negatively impact outcomes as remote-hybrid learning reduced social interactions and support. Using quasi-experimental methods and data from the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project and Monitoring the Future, my results suggest that marginal week of cumulative remote-hybrid learning was associated with a 0.4% decline in psychiatric ED visits relative to the mean. Males, younger children, and children from moderate or higher poverty districts experienced larger reductions and no subgroups experienced an increase in psychiatric ED visits. I do not find strong evidence that remote-hybrid learning changes student reported internalizing and externalizing symptoms. Findings from this dissertation contribute to our understanding of the costs and benefits of remote-hybrid learning during public health emergencies. My results suggest that while remote-hybrid learning, as implemented during COVID-19, may not pass a cost-benefit test due to learning loss and other deleterious outcomes (e.g. parental wellbeing), the intervention does not harm child mental health. Policymakers and school administrators can also use these findings to advocate for reforming learning context to support child mental health.