Editorial Perspective: The mental health impact of school closures during the COVID‐19 pandemic

Abstract

School closures were one of the earlier actions taken as the world tried to contain the COVID‐19 outbreak, a decision impacting nearly three‐fourths of the learners worldwide. One year into the pandemic, over 200 million students still faced disruptions to their education. Nearing the end of another academic year that has occurred entirely during the pandemic, many schools remained fully or partially closed for in‐person education, altering routines and representing potential hardships to the next generation and their families. This article will explore the potential impacts of school closures on children and adolescents related to increased screen time, irregular sleep patterns, less balanced diets, learning difficulties, and changes in social interaction. In addition, we note broader familial difficulties likely accompanying the loss of the mitigating effects of schools and their associated support systems, such as parental stress and work responsibilities, loss of employment, intimate partner violence, child abuse and neglect, and parental substance abuse, which appear to have increased during the pandemic. Considering what is known about the impact from previous natural catastrophes, the populations at risk, and the early but not yet definitive data from the current pandemic, we stress the urgent need for robust data as we prepare for a new academic year in the Northern Hemisphere. Although we currently lack consistent and complete data, signs for concern include a rise in pediatric emergency room visits for mental health and substance use issues in many parts of the world. This paper aims to stimulate a discussion about the potential mental health effects of school closures for children and adolescents in the context of a pandemic.

A systematic review of the mental health changes of children and young people before and during the COVID-19 pandemic

“…Thus, it's important to note that the present findings reflect the impact during the early phase of the pandemic on the mental health of children and young people. Other studies showed increased online or social media use [46,47] and problems related to remote learning [48,49]. These factors need to be explored, together with potential explanations like social isolation, family dysfunction, restricted leisure time activities, worries about being infected or about friends and family being infected and grief at losing loved ones.…”

Assessing positive adaptation during a global crisis: The development and validation of the family positive adaptation during COVID-19 scale

“…The widespread social disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic has negatively impacted the functioning and well-being of many families around the world. Families with school-aged children have experienced financial burden ( Low and Mounts, 2022 ), food insecurity ( Steimle et al, 2021 ), school closures ( Almeida et al, 2021 ), and lack of child support ( Poulain et al, 2021 ), with associated strain on the functioning of the family system ( Prime et al, 2020 ). Notwithstanding its negative consequences, many families have been able to mobilize social, interpersonal, and familial resources to adapt to these disruptions and cope with the stress that accompanies them.…”

A comparative study of youth victimization during COVID-19 lockdowns in Mexico and Russia

“…Because many experts predicted an increase in cyberbullying when face-to-face contact was curtailed due to lockdowns (e.g., Almeida et al, 2022), we considered the location of the victimization. In both countries, home was the most common location, as expected (see Table 5 for details).…”