Abstract
The cohort study assesses the association of school closings during the COVID-19 pandemic with the mental health of primary school students in China.
Highlights
During the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, most governments across the globe have temporarily closed schools, a decision that has impacted 1.4 billion students worldwide.1 The outbreak of COVID-19 took place during the winter vacation of Chinese schools while all the students were at home
Author affiliations and article information are listed at the end of this article. This cohort study is part of an ongoing longitudinal study on physical and mental health factors associated with early adversity among children in China
As shown in the Figure and Table, the prevalence of mental health outcomes among students in wave 2 increased significantly from levels at wave 1: depressive symptoms (24.9% [309 of 1241] vs 18.5% [235 of 1271]; adjusted odds ratio [aOR], 1.50 [95% CI, 1.18-1.90]; P = .001), nonsuicidal self-injury (42.0% [521 f o1241] vs 31.8% [404 of 1271]; aOR, 1.35 [95% CI, 1.17-1.55]; P < .001), suicide ideation (29.7% [369 of 1241] vs 22.5% [286 of 1271]; aOR, 1.32 [95% CI, 1.08-1.62]; P = .008), suicide plan (14.6% [181 of 1241] vs 8.7% [110 of 1271]; aOR, 1.71 [95% CI, 1.31-2.24]; P < .001), and suicide attempt (6.4% [79 of 1241] vs 3.0% [38 of 1271]; aOR, 1.74 [95% CI, 1.14-2.67]; P < .001)
Summary
During the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, most governments across the globe have temporarily closed schools, a decision that has impacted 1.4 billion students worldwide. The outbreak of COVID-19 took place during the winter vacation (originally scheduled during January 21 to February 19, 2020) of Chinese schools while all the students were at home. On January 27, China’s Ministry of Education announced that the 2020 spring semester for schools would be postponed to late April owing to the novel coronavirus outbreak, affecting 278 million students across primary and postsecondary grades in China. Most of the available data are cross-sectional, and not much is known about the long-term mental health outcomes associated with prolonged school closure among children and adolescents.. Most of the available data are cross-sectional, and not much is known about the long-term mental health outcomes associated with prolonged school closure among children and adolescents.5 This longitudinal cohort study investigated psychological symptoms, nonsuicidal self-injury, and suicidal ideation, plans, and attempts among a cohort of children and adolescents before the outbreak started (wave 1, early November 2019) and 2 weeks after school reopening (wave 2, mid-May 2020) in an area of China with low risk of COVID-19 Recent modeling studies predict that school closures alone would prevent only 2% to 4% of deaths, school closures may be associated with mental health problems among students owing to a prolonged state of physical isolation from peers, teachers, extended family, and community networks. Most of the available data are cross-sectional, and not much is known about the long-term mental health outcomes associated with prolonged school closure among children and adolescents. This longitudinal cohort study investigated psychological symptoms, nonsuicidal self-injury, and suicidal ideation, plans, and attempts among a cohort of children and adolescents before the outbreak started (wave 1, early November 2019) and 2 weeks after school reopening (wave 2, mid-May 2020) in an area of China with low risk of COVID-19
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