Suicidality in children and adolescents: lessons to be learned from the COVID-19 crisis

Hoekstra, Pieter J.

doi:10.1007/s00787-020-01570-z

Cited by 76 publications

(90 citation statements)

References 11 publications

(11 reference statements)

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“…Our null findings are in line with previous studies which pointed out that changes in children’s lives due to the COVID-19 crisis, including school closures, may have both positive and negative influences on child mental health and suicidality ( Fegert et al, 2020 ; Hoekstra, 2020 ). The COVID-19 crisis can cause anxiety, distress, and potentially depression among children because of fears related to COVID-19, family economic hardship, limited access to basic services (i.e., schools and medical services), and limited social contacts and social activities ( Fegert et al, 2020 ).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 92%

“…On the other hand, children have increased family time during school closure. Spending time at home, and not at school, can have both positive and negative influences on child mental health because children may get a reprieve from problems at school (e.g., bullying), or feel distressed from relationships with family members (i.e., family violence) ( Hoekstra, 2020 ). Data from Childline also show that children were more concerned about themselves, especially their mental state, and less concerned about school, including relationships at school and bullying during March 2020 compared with the same month the previous year ( Childline Support Center Japan, 2020b ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Do suicide rates in children and adolescents change during school closure in Japan? The acute effect of the first wave of COVID-19 pandemic on child and adolescent mental health

Isumi

Doi

Yamaoka

et al. 2020

Child Abuse & Neglect

181

159

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Background The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has severely impacted the lives of children and adolescents. School closure, one of the critical changes during the first COVID-19 wave, caused decreases in social contacts and increases in family time for children and adolescents. This can have both positive and negative influences on suicide, which is one of the robust mental health outcomes. However, the impact of the COVID-19 crisis on children and adolescents in terms of suicide is unknown. Objective This study investigates the acute effect of the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic on suicide among children and adolescents during school closure in Japan. Data Total number of suicides per month among children and adolescents under 20 years old between January 2018 and May 2020. Methods Poisson regression was used to examine whether suicide increased or decreased during school closure, which spanned from March to May 2020, compared with the same period in 2018 and 2019. Robustness check was conducted using all data from January 2018 to May 2020. Negative binomial regression, a model with overdispersion, was also performed. Results We found no significant change in suicide rates during the school closure (incidence rate ratio (IRR) = 1.15, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.81 to 1.64). We found the main effect of month, that is, suicides significantly increased suicides in May (IRR: 1.34, 95% CI: 1.01 to 1.78) compared to March, but the interaction terms of month and school closure were not significant (p > 0.1). Conclusions As preliminary findings, this study suggests that the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic has not significantly affected suicide rates among children and adolescents during the school closure in Japan.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 92%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Do suicide rates in children and adolescents change during school closure in Japan? The acute effect of the first wave of COVID-19 pandemic on child and adolescent mental health

Isumi

Doi

Yamaoka

et al. 2020

Child Abuse & Neglect

181

159

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…Stress is one of the main risk factors of suicide [ 19 ]. The enormous stress posed by the COVID-19 lockdown on adolescents and their families, reflected in part in the parents’ observations of their adolescents’ wish to die, must be highlighted.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The enormous stress posed by the COVID-19 lockdown on adolescents and their families, reflected in part in the parents’ observations of their adolescents’ wish to die, must be highlighted. We do not yet know how COVID-19 will affect suicide rates [ 19 ]. As expected for a general population sample, few adolescents expressed these feelings ( N = 3; 1.3%) but still this rate need to be noted due to their clinical relevance.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Life Conditions during COVID-19 Lockdown and Mental Health in Spanish Adolescents

Ezpeleta

Navarro

Osa

et al. 2020

IJERPH

132

134

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Spanish children were locked down for 72 days due to COVID-19, causing severe disruption to their normal life. The threat posed by COVID-19 continues and clinicians, administrators, and families need to know the life conditions associated with more psychological problems to modify them and minimize their effect on mental health. The goal was to study the life conditions of adolescents during lockdown and their association with psychological problems. A total of 226 parents of 117 girls and 109 boys (mean age: 13.9; Standard deviation: 0.28) from the community that were participants in a longitudinal study answered an online questionnaire about life conditions during lockdown and the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ). Stepwise regression analyses controlling by previous reports of SDQ were performed. Conduct, peer, prosocial, and total problems scores increased after lockdown. After adjusting for previous measures of psychopathology, worse adolescents’ mental health during COVID-19 lockdown was associated with unhealthy activities, worsening of the relationships with others, and dysfunctional parenting style. It seems important to mitigate psychological stress in a situation of isolation due to a state of emergency by keeping the adolescent active and maintaining their daily habits and routines in a non-conflictive atmosphere and give support to parents.

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“…Restrictions set to ensure minimum spreading of SARS-Cov-2 entailed considerable changes in many aspects of daily life, including clinical work. First observations of the COVID-19-pandemic suggest disproportional consequences for psychiatric patients (1)(2)(3)(4), even a potentially increased suicide risk (5,6). Following the need to continuously serve patients, a lot of effort went into provision of care through other means not including physical contact, such as teletherapeutic offers (7)(8)(9)(10)(11).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“Bridge over troubled water”: A first look at adolescent psychiatric outpatients transited from regular care to teletherapy during the COVID-19 outbreak using quantitative and qualitative analyses.

Huscsava

Scharinger

Plener

et al. 2020

Preprint

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Abstract BackgroundAdolescents suffering from psychiatric disorders are at risk of disproportionally suffering from the current COVID-19-pandemic. We aimed to assess their specific needs and to evaluate factors influencing a successful transition into teletherapy.MethodsThirty adolescent psychiatric outpatients participated in a series of interviews. The primary outcome was the level of psychosocial functioning. Secondary outcome were potential changes in differential symptom domains. Additionally, answers to open questions were analysed qualitatively.ResultsWithin-group effect size estimates revealed a significant decrease in the level of functioning within the first two months after transition from face-to-face therapy (M = 2·7, SD = 1·258) to teletherapy (M = 3·0, SD = 1·245) (T29 = -2·536, p = 0·017, d = 0·46). Qualitative analysis revealed a marked difference in the level of perceived social support in the subgroup of patients who deteriorated in their level of functioning. Those patients also showed a lower degree of verbal differentiation concerning emotions and affect, as well as a higher degree of introspection and rumination. ConclusionsDespite an overall deterioration, in absolute numbers most patients showed a stagnation in their level of functioning, even if difficulties were expressed. The most prominent difference in the subgroup who showed a decreased level of functioning, was the lack of perceived social support. Provision of strategies to enhance verbalisation and differentiation of emotions and affect might be beneficial.

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Suicidality in children and adolescents: lessons to be learned from the COVID-19 crisis

Cited by 76 publications

References 11 publications

Do suicide rates in children and adolescents change during school closure in Japan? The acute effect of the first wave of COVID-19 pandemic on child and adolescent mental health

Do suicide rates in children and adolescents change during school closure in Japan? The acute effect of the first wave of COVID-19 pandemic on child and adolescent mental health

Life Conditions during COVID-19 Lockdown and Mental Health in Spanish Adolescents

“Bridge over troubled water”: A first look at adolescent psychiatric outpatients transited from regular care to teletherapy during the COVID-19 outbreak using quantitative and qualitative analyses.

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