There is increasing knowledge that the COVID-19 pandemic has had an impact on mental health of children and young people. However, the global evidence of mental health changes before compared to during the COVID-19 pandemic focusing on children and young people has not been systematically reviewed. This systematic review examined longitudinal and repeated cross-sectional studies comparing before and during COVID-19 pandemic data to determine whether the mental health of children and young people had changed before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Web of Science, PubMed, Embase and PsycINFO databases were searched to identify peer-reviewed studies that had been published in English and focused on children and young people between 0 and 24 years of age. This identified 21 studies from 11 countries, covering more than 96,000 subjects from 3 to 24 years of age. Pre-pandemic and pandemic data were compared. Most studies reported longitudinal deterioration in the mental health of adolescents and young people, with increased depression, anxiety and psychological distress after the pandemic started. Other findings included deteriorated negative affect, mental well-being and increased loneliness. Comparing data for pandemic and pre-pandemic periods showed that the COVID-19 pandemic may negatively impact the mental health of children and young people. There is an urgent need for high-quality research to address the impact, risks and protective factors of the pandemic on their mental health, as this will provide a good foundation for dealing with future health emergencies and other crises.

With regard to adult mortality, the use of historical records concerning hygiene and living conditions collected in childhood may either provide more accurate measures of early-life socioeconomic conditions or capture more relevant aspects of childhood socioeconomic disadvantage than retrospective recall data.

Background 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 since the pandemic started. To gain timely information, this systematic review focused on studies based on administrative data that compared psychiatric service use, self-harm and suicide before and during the pandemic among children and young people. Methods and finding A systematic review of studies published in English from 1 January 2020 to 22 March 2021 was conducted, using the Web of Science, PubMed, Embase and PsycINFO databases. Increases or reductions in service use were calculated and compared using percentages. Of the 2,676 papers retrieved, 18 were eligible for the review and they provided data from 19 countries and regions. Most studies assessed changes during the early phase of the COVID-19 pandemic, from March to July 2020, and three assessed the changes until October 2020. Fifteen studies reported a total of 21 service use outcomes that were quantitively examined. More than three-quarters of the 21 outcomes (81%) fell by 5–80% (mean reduction = 27.9%, SD = 35%). Ten of the 20 outcomes for psychiatric emergency department (ED) services reduced by 5% to 80% (mean = 40.1%, SD = 34.9%) during the pandemic. Reductions in service use were also recorded for ED visits due to suicide ideation and self-harm, referrals to secondary mental health services, psychiatric inpatient unit admissions and patients receiving treatment for eating disorders. However, there were also some increases. Suicide rate and the number of ED visits due to suicide attempts have increased, and there was an increase in the number of treatment sessions in a service that provided telemedicine. Conclusion Most of the studies showed reductions in the use of psychiatric services by children and young people during the early phase of the pandemic and this highlighted potential delays or unmet needs. Suicide rate has increased during the second wave of the pandemic. Further studies are needed to assess the pattern of service use in the later phases of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Objective. The purpose of this study was to investigate associations between adverse childhood experiences and binge drinking and drunkenness in adulthood using both historical and recalled data from childhood. Methods. Data on childhood adverse experiences were collected from school health records and questionnaires completed in adulthood. Adulthood data were obtained from the baseline examinations of the male participants (n = 2682) in the Kuopio Ischaemic Heart Disease Risk Factor Study (KIHD) in 1984–1989 from eastern Finland. School health records from the 1930s to 1950s were available for a subsample of KIHD men (n = 952). Results. According to the school health records, men who had adverse childhood experiences had a 1.51-fold (95% CI 1.05 to 2.18) age- and examination-year adjusted odds of binge drinking in adulthood. After adjustment for socioeconomic position in adulthood or behavioural factors in adulthood, the association remained unchanged. Adjustment for socioeconomic position in childhood attenuated these effects. Also the recalled data showed associations with adverse childhood experiences and binge drinking with different beverages. Conclusions. Our findings suggest that childhood adversities are associated with increased risk of binge drinking in adulthood.

The authors' findings suggest that poor hygiene and living in poor social conditions in childhood are associated with higher systolic blood pressure in adulthood. Reported childhood diarrhoea did not explain the link between hygiene and high blood pressure in adulthood.

Psychosocial problems observed in boys seem to contribute to different alcohol habits in later life. However, the factors eventually involved in the manifestation of problematic drinking patterns through the life course still require further research.

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Introduction: Early life adversities have been suggested to associate with immune dysregulation in later life. Nevertheless, most earlier studies have relied on retrospective self-reports of early adversity. Objectives: To investigate the association between serum high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP) levels and objective and subjective measures of early adverse experiences in a population-based sample of 770 men aged 42-61 years. Aims: To test whether objectively recorded early adversities associate with increased systemic inflammation more strongly than retrospectively self-reported early adversities. Methods: Objective data on early adverse experiences were collected from primary and secondary school records. Subjective data were retrospectively inquired with a questionnaire at adulthood. The adverse experiences comprised family alcohol problems, parental divorce, and death of a family member. Having ≥ 1 adverse experiences was coded as having experienced early adversity. Serum hsCRP was measured with the Immulite High Sensitivity CRP Assay concurrently with the questionnaire data collection. Individuals with hsCRP>10 were excluded. The conducted logistic regression analyses were adjusted for age, marital status, education, smoking pack-years, alcohol use, maximal oxygen uptake, body mass index, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, regular pain medication, and depressive symptoms. Results: Objectively recorded early adversities (n=185) associated with hsCRP levels ≥ 3 (OR 1.73, 95% CI 1.02-2.95, p=0.04; reference hsCRP <1). No such association was detected with regard to subjectively reported early adversities (n=139; OR 1.63, 95% CI 0.92-2.92, p=0.10; reference hsCRP <1). Conclusions: Objective measures of early adversity may more closely link with elevated systemic inflammation than self-reported retrospective measures of early adversity.