Evaluation of COVID-19 Effect on Mental Health, Self-Harm, and Suicidal Behaviors in Children and Adolescents Population

Abstract

Objectives: The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the psychological state of the under-18 population includes an increased risk of psychopathological symptoms development and exacerbation of already present psychiatric disorders. This study aimed to assess the prevalence of mental health problems in Polish children and adolescents with a focus on suicidal and self-harm behavior with the impact of the pandemic. Methods: The questionnaire collected demographic data, information regarding mental states and psychopathological symptoms, history of self-harm and suicidal behaviors, as well as the experience of psychological, and physical violence, and suicidal self-harm behaviors before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. Results: In the final analysis, 782 responses were included. Self-evaluation of general and mental health scores was significantly lower during the pandemic among children (both p < 0.001) and adolescents (both p < 0.001). Moreover, general and mental health scores were lower among adolescents compared to children before (both p < 0.001) and during (both p < 0.001) the pandemic. The frequency of seeking help because of mental health problems increased during the pandemic among children and adolescents, while no changes were observed in the prevalence of psychiatric hospitalizations in either of the populations (p = 0.317 and p = 1.00, respectively). Out of autoregressive behaviors among children during the pandemic period, only the frequency of thinking about death increased (p = 0.038). No suicidal attempts were undertaken by children in either of the evaluated time periods. The presence of all autoaggressive behaviors was greater among adolescents compared to children both before and during the COVID-19 pandemic (all p<0.05). Conclusions: A subjective decrease in psychophysical well-being, an increase in the frequency of seeking mental health help during the pandemic, as well as an increased prevalence of depressive and anxiety symptoms were observed in the under-18 population as a potential consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic and related socioeconomic changes. The marked increase in self-harm behavior in the adolescent population (age > 12) and the marked increase in the frequency of death thinking in children (age ≤ 12) suggests the need for greater awareness and easier access to professional help from mental health specialists, particularly in a time of unprecedented stress and social isolation.

Evaluation of dialectical behavior therapy for adolescents in routine clinical practice: a pre-post study

“…As such, the DBT-A treatment received during this period of time was sub-optimal and could have affected treatment results leading to a lack of improvement in the secondary outcomes. Additionally, several studies have demonstrated an increase in various mental health symptoms in general, and in self-harm among adolescents in particular during the COVID-19 pandemic [43,44]. It is possible that this could have affected the adolescents in our study that received DBT-A treatment during the pandemic even though no differences in self-harm was found between participants pre-and during the pandemic.…”

Impactos do isolamento social durante a pandemia de COVID-19 em crianças e adolescentes

“…No estudo realizado por (Grzejszczak et al, 2024) evidenciou-se que no grupo tanto de crianças como de adolescentes houve aumento dos sintomas depressivos e ansiosos. Além disso, foi identificado aumento dos comportamentos de automutilação nos adolescentes incluídos no trabalho, já no grupo de crianças abaixo de 12 anos ocorreu um aumento acentuado no pensamento de morte.…”