The changes of suicidal ideation status among young people in Hong Kong during COVID-19: A longitudinal survey

Abstract

Background: Pandemics affect the physical and mental well-being of all potentially at-risk individuals. The secondary consequences of measures to prevent the outbreak (i.e., school closures) have extensive impact on young people globally. This longitudinal study examines changes of suicidal ideation status among adolescents during COVID-19.Method: A follow-up after nine-months of a school-based survey among 1,491 secondary students was conducted during COVID-19 in Hong Kong. Psychological well-being, psychological factors, family support, and COVID-19-related experiences were examined.Findings: The prevalence of suicidal ideation were 24% and 21% among the participants before and during COVID-19, respectively. In particular, 897 (65.0%) remained non-suicidal, 193 (14.0%) recovered from being suicidal, 148 (10.7%) newly reported being suicidal, and 143 (10.4%) remained suicidal. Respondents who remained suicidal were found to have significantly higher depression, anxiety, stress, loneliness, and social anxiety; fixed mindset; lower meaning of life and self-control; and lower parental support and supervision than the other groups. Participants with suicidal ideation reported more negative perceptions about the pandemic than non-suicidal participants. Logistic regression showed that participants with higher trait anxiety and higher stress from self-expectations in the baseline survey predicted higher likelihood of having suicidal ideation than the non-suicidal students at follow-up.Conclusion: Poor psychological well-being, lower level of family support, and negative impacts of the pandemic were consistently associated with students’ presence of suicidal ideation during the pandemic. Further intervention studies are needed to examine the effects of the mental health consequences of COVID-19 on youth mental health and to promote positive youth well-being.

Living through the psychological consequences of COVID-19 pandemic: a systematic review of effective mitigating interventions

“…Interventions in other population groups during Ebola outbreaks reduced depression, stress and anxiety 19–21. Implementing interventions to alleviate mental health problems during the COVID-19 pandemic has proven to be difficult due to various social restrictions; face-to-face interventions seem not feasible where online interventions including telehealth and multimedia application were used as alternatives 22–24…”

Pre-COVID resting-state brain activity in the fusiform gyrus prospectively predicts social anxiety alterations during the pandemic

“…Accumulated evidence has demonstrated that SA severity has been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, but changes in SA during the pandemic remain poorly characterized. Some studies have suggested that there has been a signi cant increase in SA symptoms during the COVID-19 pandemic [10,11], whereas other studies have reported that lockdown measures in anxiety-provoking situations may alleviate SA [12]. Therefore, it is vital to explore this variance and neuropsychological mechanisms underlying SA alterations, which may help to identify people at high risk for aggravated SA during the COVID-19 pandemic.…”