International Journal of Adolescence and Youth (Dec 2022)

Changes in late adolescents’ trust before and during the COVID-19 pandemic

  • Shanshan Bi,
  • Asuman Buyukcan-Tetik,
  • Marlies Maes,
  • Jian-Bin Li,
  • Catrin Finkenauer,
  • Gonneke Stevens

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1080/02673843.2022.2106144
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 27, no. 1
pp. 385 – 399

Abstract

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Trust is crucial to the public’s compliance with policies and rules released by governments, particularly in times of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. However, it remains unclear whether and to what extent late adolescents’ interpersonal and institutional trust fluctuated from the pre-COVID-19 pandemic to the lasting phase of the COVID-19 pandemic. The present study uses three-wave longitudinal data from the Youth Got Talent (YGT) project to address this gap (n = 1,423; 43% boys; Mage = 17.85, SD = 1.95). Latent basis growth curve models showed that interpersonal trust remained relatively stable over time. In contrast, institutional trust temporarily increased from pre-COVID-19 pandemic (Fall 2019) to the initial phase of the COVID-19 pandemic (Spring 2020) and subsequently, decreased during the lasting phase of the COVID-19 pandemic (Fall 2020). These results enhance our understanding of trust among late adolescents and have implications for policies aiming to manage the COVID-19 pandemic.

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