Editorial Perspective: A plea for the sustained implementation of digital interventions for young people with mental health problems in the light of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Michael Kaess,Katja Becker,Sophia Lustig,Stephanie Bauer,Julian Koenig,Christine Rummel‐Kluge,Heike Eschenbeck,Markus Moessner,Rainer Thomasius,Sabrina Bonnet

doi:10.1111/jcpp.13317

Abstract

The coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic and the consequent global lockdown posed a particular challenge for youths with mental health problems. Crucial interference with their everyday lives likely increased psychological distress while accessibility of conventional mental health care was limited. Ongoing online trials offer a unique opportunity to analyse mental health status and help‐seeking behaviour of adolescents during the pandemic. The ProHEAD‐online trial aims at improving help‐seeking behaviour of children and adolescents with significant psychological impairment. From January to May 2020, 1,042 students had access to the ProHEAD‐online platform providing information on mental illness, monitoring, peer support and professional counselling. In the week from 11 March, when schools were closed in Germany, a drastic (more than 2 standard deviations) but time‐limited increase in utilization of the ProHEAD‐online services became apparent. This may indicate a worsened mental health status and an increased help seeking via digital services during the lockdown. Although this finding is purely observational, it speaks to the importance of evidence‐based online service in the field of mental health within the current crisis and beyond.

Highlights

Editorial Perspective: A plea for the sustained implementation of digital interventions for young people with mental health problems in the light of the COVID-19 pandemic
While the exact impact of the current crisis and the various pandemic-control decisions on the mental health and well-being of young people is largely unknown, experts assume a significant increase in the burden of mental illness, and particular concerns have been raised about the worsening of pre-existing mental health problems, discontinuity of care and an exacerbation of the already pervasive challenge of unmet treatment needs among young people (Fegert, Vitiello, Plener, & Clemens, 2020; Loades et al, 2020)
The sudden onset of the COVID-19 pandemic did not allow for the initiation of rigorous studies investigating the immediate effects of the lockdown on the psychological health of young people, their help-seeking behaviour or their utilization of digital mental health interventions

Summary

Introduction

Editorial Perspective: A plea for the sustained implementation of digital interventions for young people with mental health problems in the light of the COVID-19 pandemic. The sudden onset of the COVID-19 pandemic did not allow for the initiation of rigorous studies investigating the immediate effects of the lockdown on the psychological health of young people, their help-seeking behaviour or their utilization of digital mental health interventions.

Results

Conclusion