Long-Term Impacts of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Mental Health and Well-Being in Education: Underlying Mechanisms and Intervention Strategies

The COVID-19 pandemic significantly disrupted educational systems worldwide, profoundly impacting the mental health and psychosocial well-being of students, educators, and broader educational communities. The abrupt transition to remote learning, coupled with social isolation and pervasive uncertainty, posed unprecedented challenges, intensifying mental health concerns such as anxiety, depression, and emotional exhaustion.

As the world transitions into a post-pandemic era, there is a pressing need to address the enduring impacts of the pandemic on emotional health within educational settings. However, these long-term psychological repercussions of the pandemic have not been sufficiently explored in this context. Moreover, the psychological mechanisms underlying the long-term consequences of the pandemic on mental health and psychosocial well-being remain largely unknown. This underscores the need for further investigation to unravel the psychosocial enduring impacts of the pandemic and to articulate more effective responses at the level of educational systems.

This Research Topic aims to enhance the understanding of the psychological long-term impact of the pandemic within educational settings. To this end, it is essential to identify the psychological factors that could either help explain these long-term repercussions or mitigate their harmful effects. Consequently, this Research Topic is not only focused on advancing the study of the enduring impacts of the pandemic in the educational sphere (particularly in terms of mental health and psychosocial well-being) but also seeks to unravel the pathways through which these impacts occur and the psychological factors that may act as protective or buffering mechanisms. Providing a more nuanced understanding of the long-term consequences of the pandemic in the educational domain would enable educators and policymakers to implement evidence-based strategies to foster resilience and promote well-being.

Although the wide-ranging changes and challenges introduced by the pandemic in educational settings have increased interest in analyzing its enduring impacts in this context, further research is required to consolidate recent advances in research, interventions, and policy frameworks aimed at supporting mental health within educational environments. Contributors are encouraged to address a wide range of themes through empirical studies, systematic reviews, and/or meta-analyses, as long as they contribute to expanding the available knowledge on some of the following aspects:

• Longitudinal effects of the pandemic on psychological outcomes within educational communities.
• Mediating/moderating mechanisms in the long-term psychological impacts of the pandemic in educational settings.
• The mental health needs of students and educators in educational environments.
• Psychosocial interventions that enhance emotional resilience and well-being in the educational community.
• The role of digital tools, social media, and technology in mental health support within educational settings.
• Gender and equity considerations in addressing mental health challenges related to the pandemic in the educational context.

Keywords: Educational mental health, Psychosocial well-being, Post-pandemic impact, Challenges in education, Emotional health

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.