Introduction: National mental health surveys have demonstrated increased stress and depressive symptoms among high-school students during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, but objective measures of anxiety after the first year of the pandemic are lacking.
Methods: A 25-question survey including demographics, the Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 scale (GAD-7) a validated self-administered tool to evaluate anxiety severity, and questions on achievement goals and future aspirations was designed by investigators. Over a 2-month period, all students from grade 9-12 in a single high-school (n = 546) were invited to complete an online survey after electronic parental consent and student assent.