Mental health risk among children during COVID‐19 lockdown

Abstract

The COVID‐19 pandemic has created a hugely detrimental impact on the psychological health of people around the world. Children are extremely vulnerable; therefore, it is of utmost importance to discuss the prevalence of the symptoms, their associated risk factors, and the strategies to identify and understand their deteriorating mental health (MH) before it leads to disastrous outcomes. Hence, parents and schools should come together in devising modes to create an environment in which children can easily tackle the lockdown periods which have become the new reality. Negative effects on MH have long‐term consequences, therefore necessary interventions must take place.

The Predictors of Psychological Well-Being in Lithuanian Adolescents after the Second Prolonged Lockdown Due to COVID-19 Pandemic

“…Although the negative impact of the lifestyle changes, stay-at-home orders, lockdowns, and therefore social restrictions, was documented for various groups of the population, the adolescents might be especially vulnerable because of the developmental tasks and challenges [ 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 ]. Moreover, school-aged children might be experiencing additional specific strains because of prolonged school closure and distance education, and therefore reduced professional support, reduced social activities, and increased physical isolation from peers [ 3 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 ]. Thus, in adolescence, the additional pandemic challenges might have complicated every aspect of developmental strains and challenges posed by rapid physical and emotional growth itself, including increasing academic demands and expectations, changing social relationships with family and peers, and increasing exposure to online interactions [ 10 , 11 ].…”

“…The female gender was found to be associated not only with mental health problems, but also more time spent sedentarily and less physical activity [ 2 , 11 , 17 , 19 , 26 , 31 , 32 ]. Preexisting health problems [ 1 ] and vulnerability due to previous and continuous emotional problems pose additional challenges for the youngsters, especially if the availability of support at schools and at healthcare systems is restricted [ 5 , 7 ]. Several pre-pandemic studies also revealed that older adolescents report more mental health problems [ 11 ] and less physical activity [ 19 , 22 ], although studies examining adolescents’ well-being during pandemics did not find age differences [ 3 ].…”

The relationships of preventive behaviors and psychological resilience with depression, anxiety, and stress among university students during the COVID-19 pandemic: A two-wave longitudinal study in Shandong Province, China

“…Therefore, university students in China have been required to stay at home, in isolation, for longer periods of time, which may increase their risk of depression ( 3 ). Previous studies have shown that the COVID-19 pandemic has exerted negative psychological effects on people ( 4 – 6 ). Several cross-sectional studies have shown that Chinese university students experienced varying degrees of mental health problems during COVID-19 ( 7 – 9 ).…”