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Child and adolescent mental health during the Covid-19 pandemic

Edited by: Anna Ordóñez, Andreas Witt, Andrés Martin, Jörg M. Fegert

The Covid-19 pandemic is profoundly impacting our lives. Therefore, we are proud to present this year’s thematic series “Child and adolescent mental health during the Covid-19 pandemic”. We are seeking high quality papers on the impact of the current pandemic on child mental health and how the mental health systems are adapting to the situation. Given the acute and rapidly changing nature of the pandemic, we are committed to providing a rapid editorial decision. For more information see here and the editorial.

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  1. The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has negatively impacted many aspects of life. Measures for preventing the spread of COVID-19 (e.g., school lockdowns, remote and hybrid classes, group and outdo...

    Authors: Sang Mi Kim, Yeong Mi Jeong, Hye Seon Park and Sulki Choi
    Citation: Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Mental Health 2023 17:117
    Content type: Research Published on:

  2. The psychological impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has been understudied among vulnerable populations. This study aimed to examine the immediate and longer-term changes in the mental health of children with par...

    Authors: Peipei Wu, Shihong Wang, Xudong Zhao, Jiao Fang, Fangbiao Tao, Puyu Su, Yuhui Wan and Ying Sun
    Citation: Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Mental Health 2023 17:113
    Content type: Research Published on:

  3. The economic shutdown and school closures associated with the COVID-19 pandemic have negatively influenced many young people’s educational and training opportunities, leading to an increase in youth not in edu...

    Authors: Meaghen Quinlan-Davidson, Di Shan, Darren Courtney, Skye Barbic, Kristin Cleverley, Lisa D. Hawke, Clement Ma, Matthew Prebeg, Jacqueline Relihan, Peter Szatmari and J. L. Henderson
    Citation: Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Mental Health 2023 17:105
    Content type: Research Published on:

  4. 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 impa...

    Authors: Linda Larsen, Stefan Kilian Schauber, Tonje Holt and Maren Sand Helland
    Citation: Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Mental Health 2023 17:104
    Content type: Research Published on:

  5. The coronavirus disease (COVID‐19) and universal mitigation strategies have fundamentally affected peoples’ lives worldwide, particularly during the first two years of the pandemic. Reductions in physical acti...

    Authors: Bowen Li, Kwok Ng, Xiuhong Tong, Xiao Zhou, Jiangchuan Ye and Jane Jie Yu
    Citation: Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Mental Health 2023 17:92
    Content type: Review Published on:

  6. The past 2 years of the COVID-19 pandemic were stressful for most children and adolescents; some children may have experienced a high level of stress and trauma. To date, no study has examined self-reported st...

    Authors: Gabriele Kohlboeck, Anna Wenter, Kathrin Sevecke and Silvia Exenberger
    Citation: Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Mental Health 2023 17:83
    Content type: Research Published on:

  8. Considering the heterogenous evidence, a systematic review of the change in anxiety in European children and adolescents associated with the COVID-19 pandemic is lacking. We therefore assessed the change compa...

    Authors: Helena Ludwig-Walz, Indra Dannheim, Lisa M. Pfadenhauer, Jörg M. Fegert and Martin Bujard
    Citation: Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Mental Health 2023 17:74
    Content type: Review Published on:

  9. Most research has suggested that children and adolescents had poorer mental health than pre-COVID-19 pandemic status. There have been few investigations into factors associated with pre-peri pandemic differenc...

    Authors: Cheuk Yui Yeung, Vera Yu Men, Wendy W. Y. So, Daniel Yee Tak Fong, Mona Wai Cheung Lam, Derek Yee Tak Cheung and Paul Siu Fai Yip
    Citation: Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Mental Health 2023 17:68
    Content type: Research Published on:

    The Correction to this article has been published in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Mental Health 2023 17:84

  10. The prevalence of psychiatric disorders has not shifted widely through the COVID pandemic, except for some specific groups such as young people or women. Our objective is to examine prospectively the evolution...

    Authors: Marina Adrados-Pérez, Vicent Llorca-Bofí, María Mur Laín, Carla Albert Porcar, Eugènia Nicolau-Subires, Lucía Ibarra-Pertusa, Andrea Jiménez-Mayoral, Esther Buil-Reiné, Filip Budny, Belén Resa-Pérez, Vanessa Gladys Velásquez-Acebey, Laura Arenas-Pijoan, María Irigoyen-Otiñano and Jorge López-Castroman
    Citation: Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Mental Health 2023 17:66
    Content type: Research Published on:

  11. Despite the high burden of mental health problems during adolescence and its associated negative consequences, it has remained neglected especially in sub-Saharan Africa. The 2019 novel Coronavirus disease (CO...

    Authors: Gideon Mbithi, Adam Mabrouk, Ahmed Sarki, Rachel Odhiambo, Mary Namuguzi, Judith Tumaini Dzombo, Joseph Atukwatse, Margaret Kabue, Paul Mwangi and Amina Abubakar
    Citation: Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Mental Health 2023 17:63
    Content type: Research Published on:

  12. It is unknown how the patterns of negative and positive attentional biases in children predict fear of COVID-19, anxiety symptoms, and depression symptoms during the COVID-19 pandemic. The study identified pro...

    Authors: Qiaochu Zhang
    Citation: Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Mental Health 2023 17:61
    Content type: Research Published on:

  13. Adolescents may not all have reacted similarly to the COVID-19 lockdown. This study aimed to identify subgroups of perceptions in adolescents from the PARIS cohort during the first French lockdown, and to inve...

    Authors: Antoine Citerne, Célina Roda, Fanny Rancière and Isabelle Momas
    Citation: Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Mental Health 2023 17:59
    Content type: Research Published on:

  14. The COVID-19 pandemic has had implications for adolescents’ interpersonal relationships, communication patterns, education, recreational activities and well-being. An understanding of the impact of the pandemi...

    Authors: Jasmine Gustafsson, Nelli Lyyra, Inga Jasinskaja-Lahti, Nina Simonsen, Henri Lahti, Markus Kulmala, Kristiina Ojala and Leena Paakkari
    Citation: Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Mental Health 2023 17:54
    Content type: Research Published on:

  15. Many 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 fa...

    Authors: Deborah Kurz, Stefanie Braig, Jon Genuneit and Dietrich Rothenbacher
    Citation: Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Mental Health 2023 17:36
    Content type: Research Published on:

  16. Social restrictions due to COVID-19 have impacted the everyday life of adolescents and young adults, with increased levels of stress and anxiety being reported. Therefore, we report primary care visits due to ...

    Authors: Ilari Kuitunen, Mikko M. Uimonen, Ville T. Ponkilainen and Ville M. Mattila
    Citation: Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Mental Health 2023 17:35
    Content type: Research Published on:

  17. When COVID-19 spread to Australia in January 2020, many communities were already in a state of emergency from the Black Summer bushfires. Studies of adolescent mental health have typically focused on the effec...

    Authors: Joanne R. Beames, Kit Huckvale, Hiroko Fujimoto, Kate Maston, Philip J. Batterham, Alison L. Calear, Andrew Mackinnon, Aliza Werner-Seidler and Helen Christensen
    Citation: Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Mental Health 2023 17:34
    Content type: Research Published on:

  18. Young people have been especially affected by the psychosocial consequences of the covid-19 pandemic. Covid-19 has potentially also been more stressful for vulnerable groups with mental health problems.

    Authors: M. Zetterqvist, Å. Landberg, L. S. Jonsson and C. G. Svedin
    Citation: Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Mental Health 2023 17:33
    Content type: Research Published on:

  19. Parents and caregivers belonged to those with the highest burdens during the COVID-pandemic. Considering the close link between parental stress and child maltreatment, identifying families with high parental s...

    Authors: Alina Geprägs, David Bürgin, Jörg M. Fegert, Elmar Brähler and Vera Clemens
    Citation: Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Mental Health 2023 17:25
    Content type: Research Published on:

  20. In 2020 the world faced the spread of the coronavirus infection disease (Covid-19). This was a general public health emergency but many people with disabilities might have been particularly affected.

    Authors: Silvia Pizzighello, Marianna Uliana, Michela Martinuzzi, Matteo G. F. Vascello, Martina Cipriani, Martina Breda, Gianni De Polo and Andrea Martinuzzi
    Citation: Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Mental Health 2023 17:24
    Content type: Research Published on:

  21. Canadians endured unprecedented mental health (MH) and support access challenges during the first COVID-19 wave. Identifying groups of individuals who remain at risk beyond the acute pandemic phase is key to g...

    Authors: S. Evelyn Stewart, John Best, Robert Selles, Zainab Naqqash, Boyee Lin, Cynthia Lu, Antony Au, Gaelen Snell, Clara Westwell-Roper, Tanisha Vallani, Elise Ewing, Kashish Dogra, Quynh Doan and Hasina Samji
    Citation: Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Mental Health 2023 17:20
    Content type: Research Published on:

  22. The medium-term impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the wellbeing of children and adolescents remains unclear. More than 2 years into the pandemic, we aimed to quantify the frequency and determinants of having ...

    Authors: Viviane Richard, Roxane Dumont, Elsa Lorthe, Andrea Loizeau, Hélène Baysson, María-Eugenia Zaballa, Francesco Pennacchio, Rémy P. Barbe, Klara M. Posfay-Barbe, Idris Guessous and Silvia Stringhini
    Citation: Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Mental Health 2023 17:17
    Content type: Research Published on:

  23. Although studies of adults show that pre-existing mental disorders increase risk for COVID-19 infection and severity, there is limited information about this association among youth. Mental disorders in genera...

    Authors: Kevin P. Conway, Kriti Bhardwaj, Emmanuella Michel, Diana Paksarian, Aki Nikolaidis, Minji Kang, Kathleen R. Merikangas and Michael P. Milham
    Citation: Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Mental Health 2023 17:14
    Content type: Research Published on:

  24. During the COVID-19 pandemic, children and adolescents worldwide have disproportionally been affected in their psychological health and wellbeing. We conducted a cohort study among German school children, aimi...

    Authors: Stefanie Theuring, Mascha Kern, Franziska Hommes, Marcus A. Mall, Joachim Seybold, Frank P. Mockenhaupt, Toivo Glatz and Tobias Kurth
    Citation: Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Mental Health 2023 17:1
    Content type: Research Published on:

  25. Research points to a high depression burden among youth during the COVID-19 pandemic; however, a lack of systematic evidence exists. We determine the change in depression symptoms among children and adolescent...

    Authors: Helena Ludwig-Walz, Indra Dannheim, Lisa M. Pfadenhauer, Jörg M. Fegert and Martin Bujard
    Citation: Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Mental Health 2022 16:109
    Content type: Review Published on:

  26. The Covid-19 pandemic may have had negative effects on youth and parental mental health, especially in high-risk populations such as multi-problem families (i.e., families that experience problems in multiple ...

    Authors: Natasha Koper, Hanneke E. Creemers, Levi van Dam, Geert Jan J. M. Stams and Susan Branje
    Citation: Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Mental Health 2022 16:103
    Content type: Research Published on:

  27. One of the COVID-19 pandemic consequences that has affected families the most is school lockdowns. Some studies have shown that distance learning has been especially challenging for families with a child with ...

    Authors: Lisa B. Thorell, Anselm B. M. Fuermaier, Hanna Christiansen, Ricarda Steinmayr, Dieter Baeyens, Almudena Giménez de la Peña, Madeleine J. Groom, Iman Idrees, Saskia van der Oord, Barbara J. van den Hoofdakker, Marjolein Luman, Irene C. Mammarella and Charlotte Skoglund
    Citation: Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Mental Health 2022 16:101
    Content type: Research Published on:

  28. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic people had to implement various infection prevention measures. Researchers have reported the difficulties experienced by children with neurodevelopmental disorders in implementing ...

    Authors: Tomoka Yamamoto, Sanae Tanaka, Arika Yoshizaki, Yuko Yoshimura, Aishah Ahmad Fauzi, Aida Syarinaz, Ahmad Adlan, Subhashini Jayanath, Norhamizan Hamzah, Haruo Fujino and Masaya Tachibana
    Citation: Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Mental Health 2022 16:78
    Content type: Research Published on:

  29. To examine differences in caregiver and youth reported mental health symptoms for youth initiating mental health treatment through phases of the Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) pandemic, compared with symptomol...

    Authors: Brent R. Crandal, Andrea L. Hazen, Kelsey S. Dickson, Chia-Yu Kathryn Tsai, Emily Velazquez Trask and Gregory A. Aarons
    Citation: Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Mental Health 2022 16:77
    Content type: Research Published on:

  30. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic and the associated rise in anti-Asian hate crimes, we developed the Compassionate Home, Action Together program, (CHATogether) to support the mental health of the Asian Americ...

    Authors: Jae Eun Song, Nealie T. Ngo, Jessica G. Vigneron, Alan Lee, Steve Sust, Andrés Martin and Eunice Y. Yuen
    Citation: Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Mental Health 2022 16:76
    Content type: Research Published on:

  31. Depression and suicidal behavior are the main causes of disability and morbidity, especially in adolescents living with HIV (ALWHIV). Data regarding these are lacking in Botswana, a country with a predominantl...

    Authors: Anthony A. Olashore, Saeeda Paruk, Ontibile Tshume and Bonginkosi Chiliza
    Citation: Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Mental Health 2022 16:62
    Content type: Research Article Published on:

  32. The COVID-19 pandemic is challenging for health care systems around the world. Teletherapy (psychotherapy conducted via videoconference) for children and adolescents offers a promising opportunity not only to ...

    Authors: Lea Meininger, Julia Adam, Elena von Wirth, Paula Viefhaus, Katrin Woitecki, Daniel Walter and Manfred Döpfner
    Citation: Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Mental Health 2022 16:61
    Content type: Research Published on:

  33. The COVID-19 pandemic, associated with confinement and social isolation, seems to have impacted the course of many mental disorders in children and adolescents. An increase in hospital admission rates for juve...

    Authors: Susanne Gilsbach, Maria Teresa Plana, Josefina Castro-Fornieles, Michela Gatta, Gunilla Paulson Karlsson, Itziar Flamarique, Jean-Philippe Raynaud, Anna Riva, Anne-Line Solberg, Annemarie A. van Elburg, Elisabet Wentz, Renata Nacinovich and Beate Herpertz-Dahlmann
    Citation: Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Mental Health 2022 16:46
    Content type: Research Published on:

  34. Adolescents have been deeply exposed to negative consequences of social distancing imposed by Covid-19. There is a lack of longitudinal studies regarding the impact on adolescents of this unfavorable condition...

    Authors: Laura Pedrini, Serena Meloni, Mariangela Lanfredi, Clarissa Ferrari, Andrea Geviti, Annamaria Cattaneo and Roberta Rossi
    Citation: Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Mental Health 2022 16:42
    Content type: Research Published on:

  35. Psychosocial stress during the COVID-19 pandemic is increasing particularly in parents. Although being specifically vulnerable to negative environmental exposures, research on psychosocial stress factors in in...

    Authors: Catherine Buechel, Ina Nehring, Clara Seifert, Stefan Eber, Uta Behrends, Volker Mall and Anna Friedmann
    Citation: Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Mental Health 2022 16:37
    Content type: Research article Published on:

  36. The COVID-19 pandemic has undoubtedly had a significant impact on youth mental health and/or addiction concerns and exacerbated pre-existing gaps in access to mental health and/or addiction care. Caregivers ca...

    Authors: Roula Markoulakis, Andreina Da Silva, Sugy Kodeeswaran and Anthony Levitt
    Citation: Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Mental Health 2022 16:35
    Content type: Research Published on:

  37. An upsurge in psychological distress was documented in pregnant women during the COVID-19 pandemic. We investigated with a longitudinal design whether prenatal and postnatal maternal distress during the COVID-...

    Authors: Gabrielle Duguay, Julia Garon-Bissonnette, Roxanne Lemieux, Karine Dubois-Comtois, Kristel Mayrand and Nicolas Berthelot
    Citation: Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Mental Health 2022 16:28
    Content type: Research article Published on:

  38. In contexts where poverty and mental health stressors already interact to negatively impact the most vulnerable populations, COVID-19 is likely to have worsened these impacts. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, ado...

    Authors: Zoe Duby, Brittany Bunce, Chantal Fowler, Kate Bergh, Kim Jonas, Janan Janine Dietrich, Darshini Govindasamy, Caroline Kuo and Catherine Mathews
    Citation: Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Mental Health 2022 16:23
    Content type: Research article Published on:

  39. The measures against the COVID-19 pandemic are challenging for children and parents, and detrimental effects on child health are suggested especially from lock-down measures and school closings.

    Authors: Deborah Kurz, Stefanie Braig, Jon Genuneit and Dietrich Rothenbacher
    Citation: Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Mental Health 2022 16:20
    Content type: Research article Published on:

  40. The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted on psychiatric symptoms of children and young people, but many psychiatric services have been disrupted. It is unclear how service use, self-harm and suicide has changed sinc...

    Authors: Wan Mohd Azam Wan Mohd Yunus, Laura Kauhanen, Andre Sourander, June S. L. Brown, Kirsi Peltonen, Kaisa Mishina, Lotta Lempinen, Kalpana Bastola, Sonja Gilbert and David Gyllenberg
    Citation: Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Mental Health 2022 16:15
    Content type: Review Published on:

  41. The 2019 coronavirus (COVID-19) has caused enormous negative impacts on adolescents’ routines, social interaction, interpersonal relationships, psychosocial well-being, and physical health. Nevertheless, theor...

    Authors: Jian-Bin Li, Kai Dou and Zi-Hao Liu
    Citation: Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Mental Health 2022 16:13
    Content type: Research article Published on:

  42. Studies are documenting the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on youth mental health. We extended this literature by characterizing a child psychiatric outpatient sample in the United States during the middle of...

    Authors: Alysa E. Doyle, Mary K. Colvin, Clara S. Beery, Maya R. Koven, Pieter J. Vuijk and Ellen B. Braaten
    Citation: Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Mental Health 2022 16:12
    Content type: Research article Published on:

  43. The impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic have been vast and are not limited to physical health. Many adolescents have experienced disruptions to daily life, including changes in their school routine and family’s f...

    Authors: H. M. Thomas, K. C. Runions, L. Lester, K. Lombardi, M. Epstein, J. Mandzufas, T. Barrow, S. Ang, A. Leahy, M. Mullane, A. Whelan, J. Coffin, F. Mitrou, S. R. Zubrick, A. C. Bowen, P. W. Gething…
    Citation: Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Mental Health 2022 16:4
    Content type: Research article Published on:

  44. Since the COVID-19 outbreak, few studies have investigated the positive psychological consequences on young people. This study examined resilience, positive experiences, and coping strategies reported by Austr...

    Authors: Joanne R. Beames, Sophie H. Li, Jill M. Newby, Kate Maston, Helen Christensen and Aliza Werner-Seidler
    Citation: Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Mental Health 2021 15:77
    Content type: Research article Published on:

  45. There is concern about the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on psychosocial functioning among school-age children, who have faced unusual stressors during this time. Our goal was to assess mental health symptom...

    Authors: Andrea E. Spencer, Rachel Oblath, Rohan Dayal, J. Krystel Loubeau, Julia Lejeune, Jennifer Sikov, Meera Savage, Catalina Posse, Sonal Jain, Nicole Zolli, Tithi D. Baul, Valeria Ladino, Chelsea Ji, Jessica Kabrt, Lillian Mousad, Megan Rabin…
    Citation: Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Mental Health 2021 15:73
    Content type: Research article Published on:

  46. The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in substantial disruptions to the daily lives of young people. Yet knowledge is lacking about changes in mental well-being among young adults, whether those from ethnic minoritie...

    Authors: Stephanie Plenty, Chloe Bracegirdle, Jörg Dollmann and Olivia Spiegler
    Citation: Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Mental Health 2021 15:69
    Content type: Research article Published on:

  47. The COVID-19 pandemic has directly impacted the field of child and adolescent psychiatry, affecting all aspects of the lives of children and their families and increasing their risk of distress and mental heal...

    Authors: Jordan Sibeoni, Emilie Manolios, Emmanuel Costa-Drolon, Jean-Pierre Meunier, Laurence Verneuil and Anne Revah-Levy
    Citation: Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Mental Health 2021 15:68
    Content type: Research article Published on:

  48. The spread of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) and the accompanying countermeasures can significantly impact the wellbeing of adolescents. There is a lack of longitudinal studies that can shed light on potential...

    Authors: Ieva Daniunaite, Inga Truskauskaite-Kuneviciene, Siri Thoresen, Paulina Zelviene and Evaldas Kazlauskas
    Citation: Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Mental Health 2021 15:45
    Content type: Research article Published on:

  49. To prospectively document changes in adolescents’ sleep before versus during the COVID-19 pandemic, and to examine their impact on adolescents’ perceived stress.

    Authors: Reut Gruber, Gabrielle Gauthier-Gagne, Denise Voutou, Gail Somerville, Sujata Saha and Johanne Boursier
    Citation: Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Mental Health 2021 15:43
    Content type: Research article Published on:

  50. We examined the personal and professional impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on the development, practice, and shifting values of child and adolescent psychiatrists (CAP), in order to inform how the field may mo...

    Authors: Madeline DiGiovanni, Indigo Weller and Andrés Martin
    Citation: Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Mental Health 2021 15:32
    Content type: Research article Published on: