In the absence of evidence on the psychosocial impact of such widespread disruption of children’s lives, research within developmental psychology can highlight where researchers might focus their attention. This has led many scholars to express concerns over the likely psychological impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on children and adolescents, e.g. For example, the United Nations (UN) Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation approximated that school closures affected 862 million children and young people, an estimated half of the global student population. Effect of COVID-19 on Children and AdolescentsĬOVID-19 has resulted in far more widespread impact on the everyday lives of children and adolescents around the world than SARS, MERS or H1N1.
However, none of the previous epidemics had such a broad global impact as COVID-19 or resulted in societal changes that had such wide reaching impacts on the lives of children, whether or not they were directly affected by the disease.ġ.2. Another study of health care workers during the SARS epidemic reported their perceptions of the negative impact that their work was having on their children, including inducing worries for their parents’ health. For example, a study of family mental health during the H1N1 epidemic and based on parent reports indicated that 30% of children were experiencing post-traumatic stress. There is also some very limited evidence from parental reports in previous epidemics that children suffer even when they are not infected or quarantined. For example, children who were quarantined in hospital as a result of SARS often experienced feelings of sadness, attributed to feeling alone, and missing and worrying about family members. The evidence that exists focuses primarily on children with direct experience of illness or of quarantine in hospital as a result of contact with infected individuals. ĭespite evidence of the negative impact of viral infection and quarantine on adults, there has been very limited research on their impact on children or adolescents. Evidence from Canada suggested that healthcare workers experienced intense emotional reactions during the SARS outbreak, including fear of contagion, feelings of stigmatisation, boredom, loneliness, anger, anxiety and uncertainty. Nor is it only those who are infected by a virus that experience negative psychosocial consequences. There is also evidence that these problems can be long lasting, with a study reporting that 30 months following the SARS outbreak, psychiatric problems persisted for one third of those who had been infected. For example, the immediate aftermath of the SARS epidemic saw the emergence of various psychiatric comorbidities, with the most common presenting problems involving increased levels of anxiety, depression, and features of post-traumatic stress reactions. There is ample evidence from previous epidemics that individuals who recover from acute viral illnesses may experience significant mental distress and go on to experience psychiatric problems. Hence, the methodological quality of future research should be drastically improved. The COVID-19 pandemic is affecting young people’s lives, and thus generating robust research evidence to inform policy decisions is essential. The quality appraisal indicated that all studies were of low or moderate methodological quality. The findings show that COVID-19 has an impact on youth mental health and is particularly associated with depression and anxiety in adolescent cohorts.
Twelve studies deemed eligible for data extraction ( n = 12,262). The protocol of this systematic review was registered with PROSPERO (protocol ID: CRD4202019375). The selection procedure followed the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. Eight databases were systematically searched to identify studies of any type of research design. We conducted a mixed methods integrated review to identify any empirical study that focused on young people ≤ 18 years old. Hence, this research aimed to provide a systematic review of the evidence on the COVID-19 pandemic’s impact on youth mental health. The psychological impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has been widely discussed during the past few months, with scholars expressing concern about its potential debilitating consequences on youth mental health.
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