Dataset Information

Longitudinal Covid-19 effects on child mental health: vulnerability and age dependent trajectories.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Few longitudinal studies have investigated the extended long-term impact of the Covid-19 pandemic for children's and adolescents' mental health, and a lack of uniform findings suggest heterogeneity in the impact of the pandemic.

Methods

This study investigated child and adolescent mental health symptoms across four occasions (pre-pandemic, initial lockdown, second lockdown, and society post reopening) using data from the Dynamics of Family Conflict study. Child and adolescent depressive vulnerability, age, and sex were explored as trajectory moderators. Children and adolescents (N = 381, M_age = 13.65, SD = 1.74) self-reported their anxiety, depression, and externalizing symptoms. Mixed effects analyses were performed to investigate trajectories across measurement occasions and interaction terms between occasion and moderator variables were included to better understand the heterogeneity in the impact of the pandemic.

Results

Children and adolescents reported increases in anxiety symptoms at the second lockdown (t(523) = -3.66, p < .01) and when society had reopened (t(522) = -4.90, p < .001). An increase in depression symptoms was seen when society had reopened relative to the three previous measurement occasions (ps < 0.01). Depressive vulnerability moderated the trajectory for anxiety symptoms (F(3,498) = 3.05, p = .028), while age moderated the trajectory for depression symptoms (F(3,532) = 2.97, p = .031).

Conclusion

The delayed and negative impact on children's and adolescents' mental health underscores the need for continued monitoring, and implementation of support systems to help and mitigate further deterioration.

SUBMITTER: Larsen L

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10476387 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Publications

Longitudinal Covid-19 effects on child mental health: vulnerability and age dependent trajectories.

Larsen Linda L Schauber Stefan Kilian SK Holt Tonje T Helland Maren Sand MS

Child and adolescent psychiatry and mental health 20230904 1

<h4>Background</h4>Few longitudinal studies have investigated the extended long-term impact of the Covid-19 pandemic for children's and adolescents' mental health, and a lack of uniform findings suggest heterogeneity in the impact of the pandemic.<h4>Methods</h4>This study investigated child and adolescent mental health symptoms across four occasions (pre-pandemic, initial lockdown, second lockdown, and society post reopening) using data from the Dynamics of Family Conflict study. Child and adol ...[more]

PMID: 37667287

Similar Datasets

Project description:BackgroundMany authors have described a significant mental health burden on children and adolescents during the COVID-19 pandemic, possibly moderated by social disparities. This analysis explores whether pre-pandemic family circumstances might be related to different aspects of child health during the pandemic.MethodsWe analyzed trajectories of health-related outcomes in children aged 5 to 9 years (T7 to T11) using the Ulm SPATZ Health study, a population based birth cohort study (baseline 04/2012-05/2013) conducted in the South of Germany. Outcomes were children's mental health, quality of life, and lifestyle, such as screen time and physical activity. We conducted descriptive statistics of maternal and child characteristics before and throughout the pandemic. We defined three different groups of pre-pandemic family situations and used adjusted mixed models to estimate differences in means associated with the time during the pandemic vs. before the pandemic in (a) all children and in (b) children belonging to specific pre-pandemic family situations.ResultsWe analyzed data from n = 588 children from whom at least one questionnaire was completed between T7 and T11. When not considering the pre-pandemic family situation, adjusted mixed models showed statistically significant lower mean scores of health-related quality of life among girls during vs. before the COVID-19 pandemic (difference in means (b): - 3.9 (95% confidence interval (CI): - 6.4, - 1.4). There were no substantial differences in mental health, screen time, or physical activity in boys or girls. When considering pre-pandemic family situations, boys with mothers having symptoms of depression or anxiety showed a substantial loss of health-related quality of life on the subscale of friends (b: - 10.5 (95% CI: - 19.7, - 1.4)). Among girls in this group, 60% of the 15 assessed outcomes were negatively associated with a remarkable loss in health-related quality of life (e.g., KINDL-physical well-being difference in means: - 12.2 (95% CI: - 18.9, - 5.4)). Furthermore, a substantial increase in screen time was found (+ 2.9 h (95% CI: 0.3, 5.6)).ConclusionOur results suggest that the health (and behavior) of primary school-aged children is possibly impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, with adverse consequences differing by gender and very likely by the pre-pandemic family situation. Especially in girls having a mother with depression or anxiety symptoms, the adverse consequences of the pandemic on mental health seem to be aggregated. Boys showed fewer adverse trajectories, and it needs to be further assessed which factors exactly are behind the (socio-economic) factors, such as maternal working habits and limited living space, when analyzing the effect of the pandemic on children's health.

Dataset Information

Longitudinal Covid-19 effects on child mental health: vulnerability and age dependent trajectories.

Background

Methods

Results

Conclusion

Publications

Longitudinal Covid-19 effects on child mental health: vulnerability and age dependent trajectories.

Similar Datasets

OmicsDI is part of the ELIXIR infrastructure

Tweets