Depressive Anxiety Symptoms in Hospitalized Children with Chronic Illness during the First Italian COVID-19 Lockdown

Abstract

COVID-19 is continuing to spread around the world, having a direct impact on people’s daily lives and health. Although the knowledge of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on mental health in the general population is now well established, there is less information on its effect on specific and vulnerable populations, such as children with chronic illness (CI). We conducted a multi-centered cross-sectional study among pediatric patients in six public children’s hospitals in Italy during the first lockdown, with the aim of assessing the proportion of children with CI presenting anxiety and depressive symptoms, and the clinical and demographic characteristics affecting such symptomatology. We included children with at least one chronic condition, with no cognitive delay, aged between 11 and 18 years. Brief standardized questionnaires were administered during medical scheduled visits to screen anxiety and depressive symptoms. We found a very high proportion of children showing mild to severe depressive and anxiety symptomatology (approximately 68% and 63%, respectively). Our results highlight the need of ensuring tailored psychological interventions to protect children with CI from the effect of the pandemic (and related restrictive measures such as quarantine and social distancing), with the final aim of promoting mental health and psychological well-being in this vulnerable population.

Childhood heart disease and parental emotional wellbeing: a predictive model to explain the perception of quality of life in children and adolescents

“…Each of the six HRQoL domains was a dependent variable since the cardiac module did not include a total score. For our purpose, and in line with previous studies (e.g., Correale et al, 2022;Graziano et al, 2021), parents' anxiety and depression scores were categorized into "mild", "moderate", and "severe" anxiety and depression levels (e.g., Balsamo & Carlucci, 202;Picconi et al, 2018). Additionally, the age variable was included in the analysis as groups: 5-7 years, 8-12 years, and 13-18 years.…”

“One and a Half Years of Things We Could Have Done”: Multi-Method Analysis of the Narratives of Adolescents with Type 1 Diabetes during the COVID-19 Pandemic

“…This study aimed to explore the experience of the COVID-19 outbreak in a cohort of adolescents with type 1 diabetes since previous quantitative studies highlighted better glycemic outcomes [18][19][20][21], but more frequent symptoms of psychological distress [16,18].…”

“…Children and adolescents with pre-existing chronic conditions, including youth with type 1 diabetes, were particularly vulnerable to experiencing psychological well-being deteriorations during the COVID-19 emergency [16].…”

A Covid-19 E Os Cuidados Paliativos Pediátricos

“…Devido a essas restrições, muitas crianças passaram por um processo doloroso de luto (HARROP et al, 2022). Com base em um estudo feito em pacientes pediátricos em seis hospitais infantis públicos na Itália, 2020 a 2021, 68% apresentou sintomas depressivos e 63% sintomas de ansiedade (CORREALE et al, 2022).…”