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Three years after the COVID epidemic and the measures put in place by governments, the authors still cannot measure the full impact of them on the well-being and mental health of adolescents. This population was particularly impacted by this crisis, and some subgroups of young people, such as those from migration backgrounds, have been confronted with additional challenges. This paper aims to explore and describe the perspective and experience of migrant adolescents during the lockdown period

The authors performed 13 semi-structured interviews with migrant adolescents (nine females, median age 16) at the pediatric policlinic of Lausanne University Hospital in Switzerland between November 2020 and January 2021. Participants had been living in Switzerland for an average of 2.3 years. Three of them were staying in a refugee reception centre. A thematic content analysis was carried out to extract themes and topics.

Participants had difficulty understanding information about COVID-19 in general. Remote learning was described as stressful due to various factors and lockdown had an impact on their future plans, such as finding an apprenticeship. Some young people were already socially isolated, but families were generally supportive. They expressed particular concerns, such as the family’s financial situation and the difficulty of living in refugee reception centres.

In the event of further lockdown, special attention must be paid to these adolescents to ensure their proper development and integration. Comprehensive follow-up of this population during and after the pandemic is essential.

This study provides a better understanding of the pandemic experience of migrant adolescents and underlines their difficulties.

Mental disorders are the main cause of morbidity among 10–19 year-olds and current research indicates that youth mental health problems are rising, especially with the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. This exploratory qualitative study aimed to gather the opinions of adolescents in Switzerland on the emotional and behavioral problems the adolescents may currently face.

The authors' study included 28 participants aged between 12 and 19 years-old. Four online focus groups (FGs) separated by gender and age were performed between March and April 2021, during the third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in Switzerland.

The concept of mental health was very vague for the participants. School was reported as a major source of stressors and may have negative effects on participants' mental health. This distress has been amplified with the COVID-19 pandemic and the perceived instability of participants' future. Furthermore, participants reported that poor body image was a major issue threatening the mental health of adolescents, especially among females and on social media. Finally, participants considered that social relations, more particularly friendships, were one of the main protective factors for mental health, even if peer pressure was also considered as a stress factor. Given the fact that the concept of mental health was very abstract for the participants, increased levels of mental health literacy are needed.

This study collects adolescents' opinions on current emotional issues adolescents may face without restricting the domains discussed and considering the particular pandemic and post-pandemic periods.

Adolescence is an important life stage including physical, emotional and social changes that make adolescents vulnerable to mental health issues. To face these emotional and behavioral problems, adolescents may use various coping strategies. This exploratory qualitative study aimed to better understand the coping strategies when adolescents face mental health difficulties, the reasons why some adolescents find it difficult to seek social support and/or professional care and which interventions they would find efficient to improve adolescents' mental health.

The study included 28 participants aged between 12–19 years old. Four online focus groups (FGs) separated by gender and age were performed between March and April 2021, during the third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in Switzerland.

The results show that several strategies put forward by participants did not include talking about their problems with others. Reducing the stigma and taking the adolescents' mental health seriously would make it easier for adolescents to talk about their problems to other people. Overall, participants considered that doing leisure-time activities and going out with friends were the best way to reduce stressful situations and mental health problems. For all aspects of health, including the mental one, it is important that policies promote the access to sports and arts activities for all the adolescents.

This study explored adolescents' coping strategies and their opinions on intervention for dealing with potential mental health problems, an issue that is still taboo for some adolescents.