Table 4.

Frustration, Burden and Responsibility—sub-themes and supporting extracts.

Sub-Themes:	Supporting Quotes:
Missed milestones	“So today it’s my birthday…whoop I’m 17. It’s been a strange birthday, usually I’m at school with my friends and we get to have a laugh but today I’ve seen no friends in person. It’s just very strange as your birthday’s supposed to be such a special day but typing this now it’s only just hitting me that it’s actually my birthday. The once-a-year day where it’s your special day. Don’t get me wrong, I usually dislike my birthday because of all the attention I get from my outer family, but it’s still nice to see your friends to celebrate with or have a little party or sleepover with. All I’ve done today is play Minecraft, make a card for a family friend who’s recently lost her husband, get fish and chips and go on a Zoom call…”—Female, Aged 16 “For the past few Halloweens, I go trick or treating with my friend (the one I usually play out with) however that might not be able to happen due to restrictions in the local area. It’s painful to see since we go to school together and talk like normal anyway but I kind of agree it’s about minimising the amount of contact and staying safe.”—Male, Aged 14
Sacrifice and responsibility	“Recently I made the decision to keep myself, and my family and my community safe that even though I knew I was allowed to, I wasn’t going to meet anybody outside of my social bubble, like friends. Even though I know this is the right decision, sometimes I feel left out and just sad. Sometimes my friends push me to go out but then other times I know I’m doing the right thing.”—Female, Aged 16
(Fear of Missing Out (FOMO)	“…there was nobody I could talk to that I could say oh, are you feeling this FOMO as well. There was nobody like that. And whenever I told my mum about it, she was like what’s there to be FOMO, I think its her traditional, old mindset, you don’t need to go out with your friends, whatever.”—Female, Aged 16
Fear of loved ones getting ill	“Their selfish actions could literally kill someone, because they couldn’t be bothered staying 2 metres away. My mum has 4 heart conditions with 1 of them being very rare so god knows how the virus would affect her.”—Female, Aged 16
Guilt (breaking versus adhering to rules)	“Even though it was so much fun and it was so nice being able to see everybody, I still felt bad even though we were staying safe.”—Female, Aged 16 I feel kind of guilty because I know that, in the north east at least, the main increase in infection rates is thanks to my age group and people like myself. I went to town with friends for the first night since October and to be honest it wasn’t even that different to normal—other than encouraged hand washing, it wouldn’t take much for the virus to spread if one person had it. I feel guilty but not enough to stop going out and enjoying myself…the way I see it is as long as I don’t catch it and give it to anyone vulnerable, I can feel ok ethically.”—Male, Aged 17
Confusion and uncertainty	“The last couple of weeks have been very strange. I thought it was finally going back to normal. All my dance lessons went back, I could go to see my grandma and hang out with friends but now I can’t. I don’t understand why I can be with my friends all day at school but as soon as I’m off the school but in town I can’t go to Starbucks with my friend. I really hope things go back to normal soon so I can still have my birthday party with my friends and be able to see all my family at Christmas. Fingers crossed everything gets back to normal soon.”—Female, Aged 15
Perspectives on national and local lockdowns	“I mean it’s frustrating because it feels like we’re taking one step forward and two back, but it’s necessary to keep everyone safe so I’m trying to keep that in mind and stay positive!”—Male, Aged 15 “I think they’ll help for the short term, like the first wave, but it’s going to come crashing down again like a wave does. At the peak of the lockdown people will oblige with the rules for so long until they get bored or sick of staying indoors…”—Female, Aged 16
Frustration: rules that don’t make sense	“Frustrating that from today we can’t meet with more than 6 people even though I’m in a bubble with over 300 people at school. Rules are confusing and don’t make sense!”—Female, Aged 15 “The whole local lockdown for us is just stupid since we’re allowed to be packed into a class with our friends with no social distancing or masks but then we can’t go outside of school. Also restaurants and shops are still open but we can’t even go to them with our friends.”—Male, Aged 16
Frustration: government	“…the government in power today has proven that they are not capable of leading the country; this is due to the complete lack of planning put into basically everything regarding exams as well as the overall handling of the pandemic. I hope that when my generation come to vote, they’ll remember this year and the shockingly bad way it was handled.”—Female, Aged 16
Frustration: those not following the rules	“I have had multiple fallings out with one of my best friends. Because she just doesn’t understand, well, no, she understands why, obviously, but she just won’t stop going out. And I’m like, what are you missing out on, you’ll see everyone at school in a couple of weeks, I don’t know, that got me really frustrated, why can’t people just understand, sacrifice these next few months, stay inside, and you’ll see everyone back to normal.”—Female, Aged 16 “…many people were not following the rules like wearing face masks, washing hands, and following the arrows, on the streets, which could make things very complicated.”—Male, Aged 14