Abstract
The COVID-19 pandemic has yielded extensive impacts globally in the year of 2020. Although the mental health of children and adolescents may be particularly susceptible to stressors stemming from the pandemic and anti-contagion policies, most ongoing efforts are geared toward curbing the viral spread. In the current perspective, we have identified four domains of factors corresponding to an ecological framework that may directly or indirectly influence the mental health of children and adolescents during the pandemic. The evidence suggests that anti-contagion policies might trigger cascades that impact the mental health of children and their families through multiple different sectors that used to form a safety net for youths. Additionally, children with neuropsychiatric disorders could experience exacerbated symptoms during the pandemic. Furthermore, the risk of domestic violence has surged during the pandemic, which further compounds the imminent mental health crisis. A mental health pandemic could be inevitable if no proactive prevention strategies were in place. Therefore, we recommend understanding each individual mental health risk pathway via the ecological framework in order to develop integrative prevention and intervention strategies.
Highlights
Concerns about the impact of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) on a vulnerable population, such as children and adolescents, have been increasingly noted around the world
Anti-contagion measures to curb the spread of SARS-CoV-2 virus, such as school closures, lockdowns, and travel restrictions, have led to changes that disrupt daily routines and resources, which in turns could impact mental health of children and adolescents
In a study by Asbury et al, parents of children (5–18 years old) with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities in the UK were asked to describe the impact of COVID-19 on their mental health and that of their child [29]
Summary
Concerns about the impact of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) on a vulnerable population, such as children and adolescents, have been increasingly noted around the world. We discuss four domains of factors relevant to the mental health of children and adolescents: [1] educational support, [2] health care system, [3] community support, and [4] family support The elements in these four domains can be classified into higher-demand (e.g., the need for more technological support for online learning and telemedicine) vs lower-resource (e.g., less financial support due to parental unemployment) components affected by the pandemic (Table 1). How these four domains interact with each other to influence mental health of children and adolescents during and after the COVID-19 pandemic can be examined using the Bronfenbrenner’s ecological framework [4].
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