Anxiety in a COVID-19 school year contextKozina, Ana (Avtor) educationschoolbelongingnesadolescentsgradesgendercovid-19anxietycovid-19 anxietylongitudinal studySloveniaBackground and Objectives:We investigated the trajectories of anxiety,general anxiety and more specifically COVID-19 anxiety in the period ofschool closure in Slovenia using a longitudinal design with three timepoints: at the beginning, in the middle and at the end of the school year.Design and Methods:We have used data from a representativeadolescent sample for Slovenia (n= 1233) and two anxiety scales: theLAOM Anxiety Scale and the COVID-19 Anxiety Scale. Thefindings fromlatent growth curve models show a significant difference in initial levelsand a decrease in both types of anxiety as well as an interaction effectbetween the initial level and the rate of change of COVID-19 anxiety. Inaddition to investigating the change in time, we were interested incovariates.Results and Conclusions:Thefindings show significant effects of: (a)gender, school level and academic achievement on initial levels ofCOVID-19 anxiety; (b) gender and school level on initial levels ofanxiety; (c) gender on the rate of change in anxiety; (d) academicachievement on the rate of change in COVID-19 anxiety; and,additionally, (e) the significant but different role that schoolbelongingness plays in anxiety and in particular COVID-19 anxiety.20232025-07-08 09:15:01Neznano22893sl