Self-injury, suicidal ideation and -attempt and eating disorders in young people following the initial and second COVID-19 lockdown

Abstract

Experts has raised concerns about young people’s mental health following the lockdowns implemented to mitigate the spread of COVID-19. An aggravation in mental health have been suggested in several studies, but the impact on self-injury, suicidality and eating disorders (EDs) are less elucidated. Using two different data setups i.e. longitudinal and repeated cross-sectional data, we compare self-reported self-injury, suicide ideation and -attempt and symptoms of EDs from before through different pandemic periods until spring 2021. The longitudinal data indicate a slight reduction in the proportion of self-injury and suicide ideation in both women and men, as well as symptoms of EDs in women. For suicide attempt no change was observed. In the repeated cross-sectional data, we observed no changes in self-injury, suicide ideation- and attempts or symptoms of EDs. Thus, our findings provide no support for increase in self-injury, suicidality, and symptoms of EDs following the lockdowns.