Academic and health outcomes of online education for primary and secondary students: Evidence from COVID-19

Yueqin Wang, Chuanchuan Zhang and Junsen Zhang

Journal of Comparative Economics, 2026, vol. 54, issue 1, 147-163

Abstract: Online education is rapidly expanding due to technological advancements and increased demand for quality education. However, its effectiveness and impact on student behavior are not well understood. The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated online education and offered a unique opportunity to evaluate its effects. Using nationwide longitudinal survey data from China, we find that online education during the pandemic significantly diminished academic performance and worsened mental health outcomes, including increased depressive symptoms and decreased well-being. Our analysis explores four behavioral mechanisms: interpersonal needs and relationships, parent-child interactions, teacher-student dynamics, and time allocation. We demonstrate that online education reduces effective peer interaction, deteriorates self-reported interpersonal and familial relationships, and leads to inefficient time allocation. Students also substantially increased their entertainment internet use, including video watching and gaming. These factors contributed to declines in academic performance and mental health. Our findings underscore the critical role of social networks and time allocation in maximizing the benefits of online education.

Keywords: Online education; Academic performance; Mental health; Social network; COVID-19 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: H75 I18 I28 J13 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0147596725000770
Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:jcecon:v:54:y:2026:i:1:p:147-163

DOI: 10.1016/j.jce.2025.09.001

Access Statistics for this article

Journal of Comparative Economics is currently edited by D. Berkowitz and G. Roland

More articles in Journal of Comparative Economics from Elsevier
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Catherine Liu ().