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In this cross-sectional study, physical activity, sport participation and associations with wellbeing, anxiety and depressive symptoms were examined in a large representative sample of European adolescents. A school-based survey was completed by 11,110 adolescents from ten European countries who took part in the SEYLE (Saving and Empowering Young Lives in Europe) study. The questionnaire included items assessing physical activity, sport participation and validated instruments assessing well-being (WHO-5), depressive symptoms (BDI-II) and anxiety (SAS). Multilevel mixed effects linear regression was used to examine associations between physical activity/sport participation and mental health measures. A minority of the sample (17.9% of boys and 10.7% of girls; p<0.0005) reported sufficient activity based on WHO guidelines (60 minutes+ daily).The mean number of days of at least 60 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous activity in the past two weeks was 7.5±4.4 among boys and 5.9 days±4.3 among girls. Frequency of activity was positively correlated with wellbeing and negatively correlated with both anxiety and depressive symptoms, up to a threshold of moderate frequency of activity. In a multi-level mixed effects model more frequent physical activity and participation in sport were both found to independently contribute to greater wellbeing and lower levels of anxiety and depressive symptoms in both sexes. Increasing activity levels and sports participation among the least active young people should be a target of community and school-based interventions to promote well-being. There does not appear to be an additional benefit to mental health associated with meeting the WHO-recommended levels of activity.

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic caused an unprecedented worldwide crisis affecting several sectors, including health, social care, economy and society at large. The World Health Organisation has emphasized that mental health care should be considered as one of the core sectors within the overall COVID-19 health response. By March 2020, recommendations for the organization of mental health services across Europe have been developed by several national and international mental health professional associations. Methods: The European Psychiatric Association (EPA) surveyed a large European sample of psychiatrists, namely the "EPA Ambassadors", on their clinical experience of the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on the treatment of psychiatric patients during the month of April 2020 in order to: a) identify and report the views and experiences of European psychiatrists; and b) represent and share these results with mental health policy makers at European level. Based on the recommendations issued by national psychiatric associations and on the results of our survey, we identified important organisational aspects of mental health care during the peak of the first wave of the COVID-19. Results: While most of the recommendations followed the same principles, significant differences between countries emerged in service delivery, mainly relating to referrals to outpatients

As described in the Background section of this position paper, all the authors participated in the person in three meetings during which the findings from a previous meta-review were discussed and analyzed and a consensus was reached that resulted in this position paper.