Children and COVID-19 Research Library

The current study sought to ascertain the impact of inter-parent conflicts on teenage psychological distress, social and academic adjustment and examine the suicide ideation during the COVID-19. The results found to be alarming as 22% of the individuals displayed suicidal tendencies, with 9% having attempted suicide once, 4.6% having tried suicide twice, and 11% stating that they were likely to do so again. Therefore, the media and the government might host awareness programs and counseling initiatives to promote mental health and prevent suicidal behavior. Moreover, parents may be educated on community level, about the effect of inter-parental arguments on the mental health of their children.

Adolescence is often a period of turmoil. The COVID-19 pandemic has increased adolescents' difficulty due to mental health consequences that may affect their developmental milestones. This study constructed and empirically tested a theoretical model of three predictive factors (cyberbullying, abuse, and screen time) and stress as the mediating factor in adolescent non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI). Structural equation model (SEM) analysis was applied to investigate stress as a mediating factor in the relationship between adolescent NSSI and cyberbullying, abuse, and screen time. This cross-sectional study used a “crowdsourcing” sample collection method to recruit 464 adolescents aged 11–17 years who were administered a questionnaire comprising scales on cyberbullying, abuse, screen time, stress, and NSSI. All scales had construct reliabilities ranging from 0.759 to 0.958. SEM statistical analysis was performed using Lisrel version 8.8 (Scientific Software International, USA) for Windows (Microsoft Corporation, Redmond, WA, USA). The mean (± SD) age of the cohort was 14.61 ± 1.65 years, and consisted of 66.7% females. Secondary high school was the highest educational background (58%).

Recent studies have reported a deterioration in children’s mental health since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, with an increase in anxiety and mood disorders. Rates of suicide ideation and suicide attempts among children were also higher when COVID-19–related stressors were heightened in 2020. This study aimed to better assess temporal trends in suicide attempts among children while adjusting for annual and seasonal fluctuations. It conducted a cross-sectional study of surveillance data collected over the past 10 years at the Robert Debré Hospital in Paris, France, which is one of the largest pediatric centers in Europe.

Worldwide, at least 13% of people between the ages of 10 and 19 live with a diagnosed mental-health disorder, according to the latest State of the World’s Children report, published this week by the United Nations children’s charity UNICEF. It’s the first time in the organization’s history that this flagship report has tackled the challenges in and opportunities for preventing and treating mental-health problems among young people. It reveals that adolescent mental health is highly complex, understudied — and underfunded. These findings are echoed in a parallel collection of review articles published this week in a number of Springer Nature journals. Anxiety and depression constitute more than 40% of mental-health disorders among young people (those aged 10–19). UNICEF also reports that, worldwide, suicide is the fourth most-common cause of death (after road injuries, tuberculosis and interpersonal violence) among adolescents (aged 15–19). In eastern Europe and central Asia, suicide is the leading cause of death for young people in that age group — and it’s the second-highest cause in western Europe and North America.

Population-level reports of suicide-related emergency department (ED) encounters among youth during the COVID-19 pandemic are lacking, along with youth characteristics and preexisting psychiatric service use. This study aims to characterize population-level and relative change in suicide-related ED encounters among youth during the COVID-19 pandemic compared with 2019. This cross-sectional study evaluated ED encounters in 2019 and 2020 at Kaiser Permanente Northern California—a large, integrated, community-based health system. Youth aged 5 to 17 years who presented to the ED with suicidal thoughts or behaviors were included.

There is major concern about the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on adolescent suicidal ideation (SI) and peer relationships. This study investigated (1) rates of SI and (2) the extent to which peer connectedness and pre-existing neural activation to social reward predicted SI during the initial stay-at-home orders of the pandemic (April–May 2020) in a longitudinal sample of adolescent girls (N = 93; Mage = 15.06; 69% White non-Hispanic). Daily diary and fMRI methods were used to assess peer connectedness and neural activation to social reward, respectively. Nearly 40% of girls endorsed SI during the initial stay-at-home orders. Greater peer connectedness and neural responsivity to anticipated social reward were associated with a reduced odds of SI during the pandemic among girls.

This study examined the presence and correlates of COVID-specific suicidal thoughts and behaviors (i.e., thoughts of or engaging in intentional COVID-19 exposure with associated suicidal intent) among psychiatrically hospitalized adolescents. Adolescents (N = 143) completed study measures as part of the standard intake process between March 13th and August 14th, 2020. Participants answered questionnaires assessing COVID-specific passive and active suicidal ideation (SI) and suicidal behavior, as well as COVID-related stressors and emotions, and public health guidance compliance. Findings highlights that COVID-specific SI is common in high-risk youth. COVID-specific SI was associated with COVID-19-related negative emotions, elevated stress, and decreased public health guidance compliance.

The Safe Alternatives for Teens and Youth (SAFETY) treatment was developed to decrease the risk of repeat suicidal and self-harm behavior in youth presenting with elevated suicide risk. This paper uses case illustrations to demonstrate the SAFETY treatment, building upon the companion paper describing our “incubator” treatment development model and process (Asarnow et al., 2021). As illustrated in the second case illustration, the incubator model approach was particularly useful during the COVID-19 pandemic switch to telehealth. SAFETY specifically targets suicide and self-harm risk reduction using an individually tailored principle-guided approach, grounded in a case conceptualization that identifies cognitive-behavioral processes and reactions that contribute to increased suicide attempt risk and explains the youth’s suicidal/self-harm behavior within the context of his or her broader social systems. The SAFETY treatment has been tested in two treatment development trials, and results support the efficacy of SAFETY for preventing suicide attempts in adolescents presenting with recent self-harm.

Given reports of the adverse effects of COVID-19 on adolescent mental health, it is critical to understand how it impacts psychiatrically hospitalized youth who may be particularly vulnerable to its effects. This study aimed to advance our understanding of high-risk adolescents’ experiences of COVID-19, including COVID-19-related stress, changes in daily functioning, and coping as they relate to suicidal ideation (SI).

This study examined the association between stressful events and adolescents’ suicidal ideation and determined the roles of depression as a mediator and parental educational involvement as a moderator during the COVID-19 epidemic. Survey data from a sample of 1595 Chinese adolescents and their parents were subjected to path analysis. The results indicated that stressful events of the COVID-19 epidemic were significantly positively associated with adolescents’ suicidal ideation, and this association was mediated by depression. In addition, adolescents’ parental educational involvement significantly moderated the path from depression to suicidal ideation.

Suicide incidences among adolescents and youths during the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID‐19) lockdowns have been reported across the world. However, no studies have been carried out to investigate cumulative nature, patterns, and causative factors of such suicide incidences. A purposive sampling of Google news between 15 February and 6 July was performed. After excluding duplicate reports, the final list comprised a total of 37‐suicide cases across 11 countries.

Psychiatrically vulnerable adolescents may be at heightened risk for suicide during the COVID-19 pandemic. This study characterizes suicidal ideation (SI) and suicide attempts (SA) in a sample of adolescents psychiatrically hospitalized during COVID-19. Rates of SI and SA are compared to a historical hospital sample from a matched period in the year prior. Associations between specific stressors and COVID-related SI are also explored.