International studies analysing the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic showed a decrease in well-being of persons in different countries and age groups. It also became apparent that children and adolescents were particularly affected (e.g., Brakemeier et al., 2020; Pieh et al., 2021; Ravens-Sieberer et al., 2020; Simon, et al., 2021). For children and adolescents, the measures to contain the pandemic implied their diconnection from school class community as well as social distancing from peers and friends. Since children's and adolescents' social-emotional development have been shown to be closely linked to the social classroom climate (e.g., Müller et al., 2016; Wang et al., 2020), the social cohesion in class together with experiences of social exclusion in the classroom, are particularly important to explore the well-being of students during the pandemic. Furthermore, social support by family and peers supports well-being and the development of coping strategies in difficult situations. In addition to social support factors, individual and family factors such as gender and socioeconomic status of the family are influencing mental well-being. Female students may be affected particularly by measures of social distancing and detachment from friends. Some studies already showed that socially disadvantaged children and adolescents as well as younger women and those with a migration background reported lower well-being and higher levels of stress during the COVID-19 pandemic (Dale et al., 2021; Pieh et al., 2020, 2021, Ravens-Sieberer et al., 2020). This study contributes to the understanding of how different school environment conditions may affect the well-being of students during the pandemic with additional consideration of individual factors and social support. In this regard, the following research questions are addressed:

1) To what extent can we observe a correlation between individual factors (age, gender, number of books at home, and migration background) and students' self-reported well-being during the Corona pandemic?

2) Which social support factors (social cohesion in class, number of friends, social support) are related to victimization and students' well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic?

The present study was part of a larger project exploring the challenges and opportunities caused by the COVID-19 pandemic in a representative sample of eighteen primary and eleven secondary schools in Styria, a federal state of Austria. We used a mixed-method design with a quantitative survey and qualitative interviews and considered different perspectives: the view of teachers, school principals, teachers and students. For the present study, the perspective of students is of particular relevance, which was explored by a cross-sectional online survey and by qualitative interviews. The survey was conducted from April to June 2021, two months after the end of the second lockdown in Austria. A team of trained researchers visited each class and administered the online questionnaire with the students during one school lesson. The researchers brought tablets and digital tools so that each student could complete the questionnaire by using a tablet and the open-source test framework TAO (www.taotesting.com). Data were collected from 504 students (50,2 % girls; 49,8 % boys, aged 8-15) from primary and secondary schools in Styria. Besides socio-demographic information (e.g. gender, age, books available at home as an indicator of cultural capital), standardised scales were used. To assess student’s well-being the WHO-Five Well-being index (WHO-5) was used (WHO, 1998). To examine the subjective social class cohesion, we used a subscale from the Life in Class Questionnaire (LiK) (Gasteiger-Klicpera, 2001). To explore student’s experiences in social exclusion, the Revised Olweus Bully/Victim Questionnaire (OBVQ) was used (Olweus 2006). Finally, the number of friends in class and social support outside of school were surveyed by the Stress and Coping Inventory (SCI) (Satow 2012). Statistical analyses were performed using IBM SPSS Statistics 27. Mean differences were tested with multivariate analyses and Pearson correlations were calculated to analyse correlation hypotheses. The qualitative interviews were conducted with a total of 13 students, including 6 individual interviews and 3 focus-groups with 2-3 students each.

On average, students reported a quite good sense of well-being (MW=65.63, SD=22.93). Nevertheless, 23.6% reported a very low level of well-being and fall below the cut-off score of ≤ 50, which is used in screenings for depression. Moreover, the results showed that social support factors have a significant impact on students' well-being. A higher perceived cohesion in class, fewer social exclusion experiences, a higher number of friends in class as well as more frequent social support were reported to contribute to well-being. Additionally, individual factors such as grade level and age also showed a significant negative correlation with students' self-reported well-being. This finding could be explained by the fact, that Styrian elementary schools returned to face-to-face teaching earlier than other school types in the pandemic. Closely linked to the reopening is a direct contact with teachers and classmates. Social support, teaching as usual and additional explanations can be offered more quickly if needed. Furthermore, age effects might also be reflected here. A very interesting and also surprising finding is the missing gender difference in student’s well-being. Contrary to other empirical findings (e.g. Tomé et al., 2021), we could not find any significant differences in self-reported well-being between boys and girls (p=.68). One possible explanation for this could be that a positive change in family climate and closeness due to more time spent together during lockdowns may have led to an approximation in well-being of girls and boys. The design and methods used during the implementation of distance learning by teachers could also have led to a relief since students were able to organise their day mostly independent. Further results from the qualitative interviews with the students could provide more comprehensive information about the influence of this circumstances on the students' well-being.

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