Digital mental health service engagement changes during Covid-19 in children and young people across the UK: Presenting concerns, service activity, and access by gender, ethnicity, and deprivation.

ABSTRACT: The adoption of digital health technologies accelerated during Covid-19, with concerns over the equity of access due to digital exclusion. The aim of this study was to assess whether service access and presenting concerns differed before and during the pandemic. Sociodemographic characteristics (gender, ethnicity, and deprivation level) were examined to identify disparities in service use. To do this we utilised routinely collected service data from a text-based online mental health service for children and young people. A total of 61221 service users consented to sharing their data which represented half of the service population. We used interrupted time-series models to assess whether there was a change in the level and rate of service use during the Covid-19 pandemic (April 2020-April

SUBMITTER: Knipe D 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11825017 | biostudies-literature | 2025

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature