Impact of Virtual Socialization on Youth Well-Being and Mental Health PSYC FPX 4310 Assessment 3

Impact of Virtual Socialization on Youth Well-Being and Mental Health

Three themes were deemed most appropriate for their sample, which had an average age of 15.86 years (Valez, Hahn, & Troyer, 2022). The first theme addressed how meaningful connections could not be formed or maintained just through virtual contact (Valez, Hahn, & Troyer, 2022). In a derivative second theme, the participants expanded on this subject by emphasizing (PSYC FPX 4310 Assessment 3) the disappearance of social routine (Valez, Hahn, & Troyer, 2022).

Due to these interruptions to “life as usual,” a third theme emerged, centered on the participant’s declining mental health as a result of not having particular milestone experiences (Valez, Hahn, & Troyer, 2022). After carefully reviewing all of the comments, the team concluded that the negative ones suggested re-establishing physical social relationships in a safe manner and stepping in to help young people who expressed extreme fear about the future. 

The absence of social connection, specifically the fundamental sensations of touch, hearing, and social reinforcement, weakens certain brain receptors, which has an impact on neurological development (Garrett & Hough, 2021). It is possible to quantify this emotional and cognitive atrophy by looking at factors like poor sleep, unhealthy coping mechanisms, and vulnerability to adult illness (Lovis-Schmidt et al., 2022). In one study, kids who came into contact with COVID-19 were tracked down for the development of physiological ailments like sleep difficulties. Despite the extremely low rate of child death, excessive levels of stress led to the development of mental illnesses in many of them. PTSD, worsened AD-HD, and insomnia were among the presenting symptoms that these elevated stress levels exhibited. 

COVID-19 and Child Mental Health

The cognitive and emotional evaluations (PSYC FPX 4310 Assessment 3) of children who tested positive for COVID-19 and those who showed symptoms but were given a different diagnosis were examined in this study. Guardians and young children were invited to take part in a cross-sectional quantitative study designed to quantify adverse biopsychological consequences in an outpatient setting.

They discovered that compared to the non-COVID control group, the children with COVID diagnoses fared much worse in terms of their long-term cognitive and emotional mental health. Because the cause of many reported diseases is not clear-cut, the cross-sectional study’s nature is inconclusive. To prevent the onset of chronic disorders, the researchers did suggest PTSD, sleep therapy, and other anxiety treatments. Furthermore, the study did not specify which strategies might work best.

It is well known that when children experience adverse childhood events (ACEs), their aging processes quicken to make up for the perceived threats to their survival (Colich et al., 2020). The most obvious signs of chronic stress identified by blood sample and electronic scanning are the shortening of telomeres and increased systemic inflammation (Colich, et al., 2020). Chronic stress alters the brain, which lowers immune response and causes mental disorders (Colich et al., 2020). Due to transfers from guardians unprepared to handle deprivations brought on by poverty, anxiety, and isolation, many COVID-19 confined children had ACE variants (Acuff, Tucker, & Murphy, 2021).

ELA, ACE, and Brain Aging 

Early Life Adversity (ELA) and Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) were examined (PSYC FPX 4310 Assessment 3) in a meta-analysis of 54 peer-reviewed publications in relation to puberty (Colich, Rosen, Williams, & McLaughlin, 2020). It was believed that this association would hasten the aging of brain networks and the formation of emotion-related cells (Acuff, Tucker, & Murphy, 2021).

The numerous variables included in the rendered findings of this study demonstrate its strength (Colich, Rosen, Williams, & McLaughlin, 2020). According to study, the amygdala-prefrontal cortex network increases the brain’s capacity to “remember” frightening events while reducing the emotional reaction triggered by the stimuli in response to danger and deprivation. As a kid grows into adulthood, prolonged stress-related injury to this region might complicate memory processing, decision-making, and emotional regulation. 

Many of these meta-analysis studies were able to link (PSYC FPX 4310 Assessment 3) prior research, but they were only able to make educated guesses about the effectiveness of COVID-specific therapy, despite the recommendation of multiple emotional and cognitive therapies.Children around the pandemic world frequently expressed depression as a symptom (Folk, et al., 2022).

Every aspect of adolescent experience, including ethnicity an