Impact of COVID-19 on the Mental Health of Children and Adolescents

Abstract

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak was first reported in Wuhan, China, and was later reported to have spread throughout the world to create a global pandemic. As of August 18th, 2020, the coronavirus had spread to more than 216 countries with at least 21,756,357 confirmed cases, resulting in 771,635 deaths globally. Several countries declared this pandemic as a national emergency, forcing millions of people to go into lockdown. This unexpected imposed social isolation has caused enormous disruption of daily routines for the global community, especially children. Among the measures intended to reduce the spread of the virus, most schools closed, canceled classes, and moved it to home-based or online learning to encourage and adhere to social distancing guidelines. Education and learnings of 67.6% of students are impacted globally due to coronavirus in 143 countries. The transition away from physical classes has significantly disrupted the lives of students and their families, posing a potential risk to the mental wellbeing of children. An abrupt change in the learning environment and limited social interactions and activities posed an unusual situation for children's developing brains. It is essential and obligatory for the scientific community and healthcare workers to assess and analyze the psychological impact caused by the coronavirus pandemic on children and adolescents, as several mental health disorders begin during childhood. Countries across the globe, including the United States, are in the dilemma of determining appropriate strategies for children to minimize the psychological impact of coronavirus. The design of this review is to investigate and identify the risk factors to mental health and propose possible solutions to avoid the detrimental consequence of this crisis on the psychology of our future adult generations.

The Many Faces of Covid-19 at a Glance: A University Hospital Multidisciplinary Account From Milan, Italy

“…Moving away from physical classes completely distorted the lives of students and their families with implications for children's mental health. Whether these changes will affect adolescent developing brains remains unclear ( 51 ). The psychological stress in general population caused by the lockdown might also have influenced the more fragile adolescent ( 52 ).…”

Psychological Experience of University Students in COVID-19 Lockdown: A Qualitative Research

“…They thought that it was a blessing in disguise, as university students seldom get vacations as compared to school and colleges but later on uncertainty of the duration of lockdown started causing frustration in them. This feeling totally changed their perception and level of motivation during the continuous lockdown and online classes (Farooq, Laato, & Islam, 2020).They started getting emotionally disturbed,hopeless, which further led to negative emotions such as fear, anxiety, helplessness, and irritated mood, which have been stated by several studies (Charles, 2020;Islam et al, 2020;Jacobson et al, 2020;Shah et al, 2020). There were positive emotions in students in the first week, which turned into negative emotions in the next weeks.…”

School-Based Approaches to Prevent Depression in Adolescents

“…Due to the disruption of the normal school routine, children may develop anxiety, depression, mood disorders, and other mental illnesses. As found in recent studies, these risk factors can be remediated through psychotherapy and counseling services to support the well-being of student's mental health [ 47 ]. These services, including CBT, can be rendered through telepsychiatry by licensed professionals and healthcare workers [ 47 , 48 ].…”

“…As found in recent studies, these risk factors can be remediated through psychotherapy and counseling services to support the well-being of student's mental health [ 47 ]. These services, including CBT, can be rendered through telepsychiatry by licensed professionals and healthcare workers [ 47 , 48 ]. It is of paramount importance that all children in psychological need receive immediate and timely care [ 47 , 49 ].…”