Child and adolescent mental health amidst emergencies and disasters

Danese, Andrea; Smith, Patrick; Chitsabesan, Prathiba; Dubicka, Bernadka

doi:10.1192/bjp.2019.244

Cited by 161 publications

(122 citation statements)

References 17 publications

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“…Overall, children exposed to emergencies and disasters can exhibit several negative psychological outcomes: they may develop internalizing problems as anxiety-related symptoms, e.g., excessive worries and fears, and depressive symptoms, e.g., becoming detached and numb, or somatic complaints, e.g., headache and stomachache (Balaban, 2006;Danese et al, 2020). It is important to bear in mind that most of these symptoms are transient, can be considered an expected reaction to intense distress, and may not require immediate clinical intervention (Danese et al, 2020). Nonetheless, we can assume that many children, during and after Covid-19 pandemic, may need special support and reassurance from their parents, as well as appropriate and simple information to understand what is happening, and they should be monitored to identify and prevent the possible development of more severe long-lasting disorders.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Stuck Outside and Inside: An Exploratory Study on the Effects of the COVID-19 Outbreak on Italian Parents and Children’s Internalizing Symptoms

et al. 2020

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The Covid-19 outbreak and the subsequent lockdown have profoundly impacted families' daily life, challenging their psychological resilience. Our study aimed to investigate the immediate psychological consequences of the pandemic on Italian parents and children focusing on internalizing and post-traumatic symptoms. We also wanted to explore the impact of possible risk and resilience factors, e.g., lifestyle and behaviors, emotional and cognitive beliefs, on parents and children's reaction to the emergency distress. An online survey was administered during the country's nationwide lockdown to 721 Italian parents of at least one child aged between 6 and 18 years. The respondent completed the survey for himself/herself and his/her child. The survey included socio-demographic items and validated questionnaires on parents' post-traumatic stress symptoms, depression and anxiety levels, and on children's internalizing problems. Parents were asked to fill the questionnaires twice: once referring to the current emergency condition and once recalling how they and their child felt a few months before Covid-19 outbreak. Multiple regression analyses showed that specific demographic characteristics (i.e., sex and age) and psychological factors of children and parents, such as fear of contagion and the opportunity to think about possible secondary positive effects of the pandemic, had a predictive value on the presence of internalizing symptoms of both parents and children. Moreover, parents' behaviors during the lockdown period (i.e., employment status and sport practiced) were significantly related to their own internalizing symptoms; these symptoms, in turn, had a strong and positive predictive value on children's internalizing problems. Besides, analyses of variance showed that internalizing symptoms of parents and children were significantly higher during the Covid-19 pandemic than before it started. In addition to showing a direct effect of the pandemic on the psychological health of parents and

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Stuck Outside and Inside: An Exploratory Study on the Effects of the COVID-19 Outbreak on Italian Parents and Children’s Internalizing Symptoms

et al. 2020

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“…This measure involves a change in routines and care, a lack of contact with peers, and even in some cases a lack of ensuring a meal per day or even a safe environment [12]. For those youths with a mental health diagnosis (5% below 18 years old in our environment [13] another signi cant stressor is the reduction in accessible mental health resources [14].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

COVID-19 Pandemic: Increased risk for psychopathology in Children and Adolescents?

Via¹,

Estrada-Prat²,

Tor³

et al. 2020

Preprint

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COVID-19 pandemic is prompting multiple stressors -including control strategies such as lockdown- which may impact child and adolescent mental health. 1,529 caregivers answered an online questionnaire about emotional and behavioral symptoms of youths (4-18 years old) using the Pediatric Symptom Checklist (PSC). Percentage of above-the-risk-threshold PSC scores (PSC+) were compared with a baseline measure. Associations between lockdown PSC scores and selected variables were evaluated using a linear regression analysis. PSC+ significatively increased from 13% to 34.7%, baseline to lockdown, mostly driven by depression and anxiety symptoms and with greater risk at younger ages. Youths’ and parents’ positive mental health history additionally increased this risk. In children, caregivers’ stress and depression was the stronger predictor of lockdown PSC scores; in adolescents it was the coping style. These findings suggest a significant mental health impact on children and adolescents associated with COVID-19 pandemic response. Younger ages should be closely monitored.

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“…While some families had the time to support their kids, other families had to go to work or guide the learning of multiple siblings. For parents of children with disabilities, providing the expertise and specialized support that schools do was almost impossible and, at times, unbearable (Danese et al, 2020). Those experiences demonstrate that future teacher candidates need to be better prepared to foster strong relationships with parents, families, and caregivers.…”

Section: The Role Of Communitymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Teacher education programs themselves must expose student teachers to remote learning and include quality online courses as part of the required preparation work. A stronger focus on social-emotional learning and trauma-informed practices in educational courses and during student teaching is necessary, as teachers with more robust social and emotional competencies are less likely to report burnout and are more likely to fostering strong teacher and student relationships, demonstrate high levels of patience and empathy, and are better prepared to deal with trauma-related to COVID-19 and other events (Danese et al, 2020). Working with parents, families, and caregivers and building trust are key skills new teachers need to develop.…”

Section: Vision For Education and Teacher Educationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Pre-existing inequalities of our society were magnified and aggravated by the pandemic, such as limited access to health care, unaffordable or unsafe housing, homelessness, job insecurity, and lack of affordable and broadband internet. The deep digital and economic divides in our country became very visible (Danese et al, 2020;Laster Pirtle, 2020).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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COVID-19 School Closure Experiences in rural Alaska and reimagining the Roles of Education and Teachers

Kaden¹,

Martin²

2020

NWJTE

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The COVID-19 pandemic shut down schools and education moved online in the spring of 2020. With in-person classes canceled, the normal structure of school for K-12 students, teacher candidates, and their mentors disappeared. School districts scrambled to provide technology, develop schedules, and modify grading policies. Teacher preparation programs had to quickly determine acceptable student-teaching experiences and how candidates could demonstrate teaching competency. In this essay, we reflect on how stakeholders in parts of rural Alaska experienced the rapid transition to online instruction. We also share our vision for an education that includes a digital future without reinforcement of previous inequalities. Strengthening teacher education, providing meaningful professional development, and recognizing and valuing educators as the professionals they are is more necessary now than ever.

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Child and adolescent mental health amidst emergencies and disasters

Cited by 161 publications

References 17 publications

Stuck Outside and Inside: An Exploratory Study on the Effects of the COVID-19 Outbreak on Italian Parents and Children’s Internalizing Symptoms

Stuck Outside and Inside: An Exploratory Study on the Effects of the COVID-19 Outbreak on Italian Parents and Children’s Internalizing Symptoms

COVID-19 Pandemic: Increased risk for psychopathology in Children and Adolescents?

COVID-19 School Closure Experiences in rural Alaska and reimagining the Roles of Education and Teachers

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