Lockdown stringency and paediatric self-harm presentations during COVID-19 pandemic: retrospective cohort study.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Lockdown during the pandemic has had significant impacts on public mental health. Previous studies suggest an increase in self-harm and suicide in children and adolescents. There has been little research on the roles of stringent lockdown.

Aims

To investigate the mediating and predictive roles of lockdown policy stringency measures in self-harm and emergency psychiatric presentations.

Method

This was a retrospective cohort study. We analysed data of 2073 psychiatric emergency presentations of children and adolescents from 23 hospital catchment areas in ten countries, in March to April 2019 and 2020.

Results

Lockdown measure stringency mediated the reduction in psychiatric emergency presentations (incidence rate ratio of the natural indirect effect [I

SUBMITTER: Wong BH 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8963968 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature