Longitudinal impact of psychosocial status on children’s mental health in the context of COVID-19 pandemic restrictions

Abstract

Emerging research suggests that the prevalence of child and adolescent mental health problems has increased considerably during the COVID-19 crisis. However, there have been few longitudinal studies on children’s mental health issues according to their social determinants in this context, especially in Europe. Our aim was to investigate the association between family socioeconomic status (SES) and children' mental health during the period of school closure due to COVID-19. Longitudinal data came from 4575 children aged 8–9 years old in 2020 and participating in the ELFE population-based birth cohort that focuses on children’s health, development and socialization. Parents completed the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) when children were (a) 5 years of age and (b) 9 years of age, which corresponded to the period of school closure due to the COVID-19 pandemic in France. We retrieved data from the ELFE cohort collected on children from birth to age 5 years (birth, 1 year, 2 years, 3,5 years and 5 years). Socioeconomic status (SES) was measured based on information obtained when the child was 5 years old. Data were analyzed using multinomial logistic regression models. Children’s elevated levels of symptoms of Attention-deficit/Hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) during the period of school closure were significantly associated with prior low family SES (aOR 1.26, 95% CI 1.08–1.48). Children’s elevated symptoms of hyperactivity/inattention and of emotional symptoms were associated with decline in income during the COVID crisis (respectively, aOR 1.38, 95% CI 1.16–1.63 and aOR 1.23, 95% CI 1.01–1.51). Moreover, when testing interactions, a low prior SES was significantly associated with a higher risk of emotional symptoms aOR 1.54 (1.07–2.21), only for children whose families experienced a decline in income, while gender, parental separation and prior mental health difficulties were not associated. This study underlines the impact of the financial crisis related to the COVID-19 epidemic on children’s mental health. Both pre-existing family SES before lockdown and more proximal financial difficulties during the COVID crisis were negatively associated with children’s psychological difficulties during the period of school closure. The pandemic appears to exacerbate mental health problems in deprived children whose families suffer from financial difficulties. Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s00787-022-02010-w.

Association between Family Functioning, Child Emotional and Behavioral Problems, and Parental Stress during the COVID-19 Pandemic in Thailand

“…Those problems were then associated with some routine changes or SDQ subscales changes, which finally led to parental stress. This result is similar to a longitudinal study about the psychosocial status and mental health of children in Europe [45]. An online survey in parents in the U.S. showed that the majority of them reported at least one symptom of parental burnout at the beginning of COVID-19.…”

The psychosocial consequences of covid-19 in adolescents with nonsuicidal self-injury

“…The consequences of covid-19 are unfairly distributed in the population [ 49 ], and in this study, perceiving the family financial situation as poor and neither good nor bad were associated with negative psychosocial consequences of the covid-19 pandemic. That the effects of the pandemic particularly affected socioeconomically burdened groups has been shown earlier in children [ 50 ]. Studying a theoretical high school program was also associated with higher levels of covid-19 related stress.…”

Health-Related Quality of Life and Impact of Socioeconomic Status among Primary and Secondary School Students after the third COVID-19 Wave in Berlin, Germany

“…Studies often evaluate SES as a composite score [3,4,9,10], although the single components of SES may affect the outcome through different pathways, and the discovered effects may differ [20,49,50]. Further research is needed that investigates socioeconomic in uencing factors on the different dimensions of students' HRQoL during the pandemic separately, as this may provide further insight into the exact mechanisms at play.…”

“…Several studies suggest that household socioeconomic status (SES), either as a composite score or as single components thereof, affected children's and adolescents' HRQoL during the COVID-19 pandemic [2][3][4][5][9][10][11][12]. While research prior to the pandemic has identi ed SES or components of it as an essential determinant of HRQoL [13][14][15][16][17], there is a lack of research examining causal factors for low HRQoL during the COVID-19 pandemic [4].…”