Background This study aims to evaluate the mental health status of children, adolescents and their parents during the first year of COVID-19 pandemic in Belgium. Method Analysis compared results before and during the second national lockdown, which started on November 2nd 2020. A cross-sectional online survey was conducted between May 2020 and April 2021. Results Two hundred and eighteen adults and 273 children fully completed the survey. Almost one in five children (17.9%) presented moderate-to-severe scores of depression. Adolescents presented a higher level of depression than children (p = 0.007). The rate of moderate-to-severe depression scores (10.8% to 21%, p = 0.007) and internalized symptoms increased during the second lockdown (p < 0.001). Parents' depression (p < 0.001) and anxiety (p = 0.027) levels also increased during the second lockdown. Logistic regression showed that the use of psychotropic medication in parents and parents’ depression scores were risk factors for children to have worse depression scores. Conclusion The second lockdown appears to worsen the effects of the pandemic on children’s and parents’ mental health. There is a need to implement specific interventions targeting both children/adolescents and their parents to support them during lockdown periods and improve mental health outcomes.

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Background Social isolation to contain the COVID-19 pandemic affected young adult mental health, partly through loneliness. Resilience is a protective factor for anxiety and depression after exposure to a stressor such as a pandemic. Medium-term effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on young adult mental health are yet to be defined. Aims This longitudinal study aimed to evaluate if slackening of social isolation reduced loneliness in young adult living in two European countries, and if this was positively related to their mental health care needs status. Methods A two-phase online survey was conducted from spring 2020 (T1) to summer 2020 (T2). The primary outcomes were the Resilience Scale for Adults (RSA) and the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) Loneliness Scale. Participants reported mental health care needs before and during lockdown: professional help-seeking, psychotropic drugs use, and admission to a psychiatric department. Results There were 88 participants at T2 (retention rate 35%), of whom 78.4% were female, with a mean age of 22±2.4 years. They were grouped according to mental health care needs change. UCLA scale score decreased in 51 (58.0%) participants from T1 to T2. The group who experienced an increase in mental health care needs displayed a more significant decrease in the UCLA scale compared to the other groups (adjusted p=0.02 and 0.01). The difference of UCLA scale scores from T1 to T2 was positively correlated with the RSA score at T1 (p=0.02). Limitations This longitudinal design provides robust evidence, but the drop-off (attrition 65%) is a significant limitation. Our research was explorative and the results need to be confirmed in future studies. Conclusions Loneliness decreased in line with the slackening of social isolation. Resilience predicts the positive medium-term outcome of loneliness. Thus, interpersonal social support and resilience seem particularly beneficial for young adult mental health. Early assessment of resilience in large-scale disasters could represent a powerful tool for identifying at-risk subjects. Future research should focus on the long-term effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on young adult mental health.