The Importance of the Grit Factor for the Functioning and Coping of Schoolchildren during the First Wave of the COVID-19 Pandemic

The article presents the results of research carried out during the first wave of restrictions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The research covered students of high schools - 275 students of schools from Białystok and Bielsk Podlaski, ages 16-19. The goal of the study was to investigate the relationship of the grit factor with the functioning of young people in a specific situation - remote learning, combined with additional, burdensome limitations in the public space. The sphere of learning and physical activity were the main areas of functioning that were researched in the study. The study used an original, author’s questionnaire to measure the functioning of young people during the COVID-19 pandemic. Besides this scale, also used were the Duckworth Short Grit Scale (SGS) (Polish adaptation by Wyszyńska et al., 2017) and the Cantril mental well-being scale (Cantril, 1965). The study displayed positive relationships between grit and the amount of time devoted to learning in remote mode, with regularity in maintaining the rhythm of the day (getting up at a similar time, taking up physical activity) and mental well-being.