Hostname: page-component-5cf477f64f-54txb Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-04-03T00:59:39.705Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Pandemic Isolation and Mental Health Among Children

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 January 2023

Donald E. Brannen Open the ORCID record for Donald E. Brannen [Opens in a new window] ,
Sheryl Wynn ,
Jaime Shuster Open the ORCID record for Jaime Shuster [Opens in a new window]  and
Melissa Howell
Donald E. Brannen*
Affiliation:
Greene County Public Health, Xenia, Ohio
Sheryl Wynn
Affiliation:
Greene County Public Health, Xenia, Ohio
Jaime Shuster
Affiliation:
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Foundation
Melissa Howell
Affiliation:
Greene County Public Health, Xenia, Ohio
*
Corresponding author: Donald Brannen, Email: [email protected].
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Objective:

Mental health issues increased during the COVID - 19 pandemic, especially among children. Our past research efforts found that surveillance data can address a variety of health concerns; that personal psychological awareness impacted ability to cope, and mental health outcomes were improved when survivors were triaged to mental health countermeasures. To build upon our public health efforts, we wanted to see if increased screen time due to remote learning caused by the pandemic influenced school aged children’s mental health.

Methods:

With the hypothesis that excessive time spent isolated during remote learning increased the amount of mental health events in children, we conducted a public health surveillance project on actual diagnoses rather than just symptoms, controlling for historical mental health and emotional disorders.

Results:

The entire cohort of children aged 6 to 17 years were studied over time before and during the pandemic for their medically diagnosed mental health and emotional outcomes by the amount of pandemic induced social isolation.

Conclusions:

After controlling for historical diagnoses and the rate of COVID - 19, the effect of pandemic - induced social isolation had a linear increase on the amount of anxiety, resulting in a 4-fold increase in pandemic social isolation - induced anxiety.

Keywords

childadolescentmental healthpandemicanxietyCOVID - 19
Type
Original Research
Information
Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness , Volume 17 , 2023 , e353
Creative Commons
This is a work of the US Government and is not subject to copyright protection within the United States. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of Society for Disaster Medicine and Public Health, Inc.
Copyright
© Greene County Public Health, 2023

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Franic, T, Dodig-Curkovic, K. Covid-19, child and adolescent mental health - Croatian (in) experience. Ir J Psychol Med. 2020;7(3):214-217. doi: 10.1017/ipm.2020.55 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fitzpatrick, KM, Harris, C, Drawve, G. Fear of COVID-19 and the mental health consequences in America. Psychol Trauma. 2020;12(S1):S17-S21. doi: 10.1037/tra0000924 CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Czeisler, ME, Lane, RI, Petrosky, E, et al. Mental health, substance use, and suicidal ideation during the COVID-19 pandemic - United States, June 24-30, 2020. MMWR. 2020;69(32):1049-1057. doi: 10.15585/mmwr.mm6932a1 Google ScholarPubMed
Brown, SM, Doom, JR, Lechuga-Peña, S, Watamura, SE, Koppels, T. Stress and parenting during the global COVID-19 pandemic. Child Abuse Negl. 2020;110(Pt 2):104699. doi: 10.1016/j.chiabu.2020.104699 CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Nwachukwu, I, Nkire, N, Shalaby, R, et al. COVID-19 pandemic: age-related differences in measures of stress, anxiety and depression in Canada. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2020;17(17):6366. doi: 10.3390/ijerph17176366 CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Abawi, O, Welling, MS, van den Eynde, E, et al. COVID-19 related anxiety in children and adolescents with severe obesity: a mixed-methods study. Clin Obes. 2020;10(6):e12412. doi: 10.1111/cob.12412 CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Abba-Aji, A, Li, D, Hrabok, M, et al. COVID-19 pandemic and mental health: prevalence and correlates of new-onset obsessive-compulsive symptoms in a Canadian province. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2020;17(19):6986. doi: 10.3390/ijerph17196986 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Duan, L, Shao, X, Wang, Y, et al. An investigation of mental health status of children and adolescents in china during the outbreak of COVID-19. J Affect Disord. 2020;275:112-118. doi: 10.1016/j.jad.2020.06.029 CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Magson, NR, Freeman, JYA, Rapee, RM, Richardson, CE, Oar, EL, Fardouly, J. Risk and protective factors for prospective changes in adolescent mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic. J Youth Adolesc. 2021;50(1):44-57. doi: 10.1007/s10964-020-01332-9 CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Tee, ML, Tee, CA, Anlacan, JP, et al. Psychological impact of COVID-19 pandemic in the Philippines. J Affect Disord. 2020;277:379-391. doi: 10.1016/j.jad.2020.08.043 CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Qin, Z, Shi, L, Xue, Y, et al. Prevalence and risk factors associated with self-reported psychological distress among children and adolescents during the COVID-19 pandemic in China. JAMA Netw Open. 2021;4(1):e2035487. doi: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2020.35487 CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Tang, S, Xiang, M, Cheung, T, Xiang, YT. Mental health and its correlates among children and adolescents during COVID-19 school closure: The importance of parent-child discussion. J Affect Disord. 2021;279:353-360. doi: 10.1016/j.jad.2020.10.016 CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
O’Sullivan, K, Clark, S, McGrane, A, et al. A qualitative study of child and adolescent mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic in Ireland. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2021;18(3):1062. doi: 10.3390/ijerph18031062 CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Liu, Y, Yue, S, Hu, X, et al. Associations between feelings/ behaviors during COVID-19 pandemic lockdown and depression/anxiety after lockdown in a sample of Chinese children and adolescents. J Affect Disord. 2021;284:98-103. doi: 10.1016/j.jad.2021.02.001 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Murata, S, Rezeppa, T, Thoma, B, et al. The psychiatric sequelae of the COVID-19 pandemic in adolescents, adults, and health care workers. Depress Anxiety. 2021;38(2):233-246. doi: 10.1002/da.23120 CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Mohler-Kuo, M, Dzemaili, S, Foster, S, Werlen, L, Walitza, S. Stress and mental health among children/adolescents, their parents, and young adults during the first COVID-19 lockdown in Switzerland. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2021;18(9):4668. doi: 10.3390/ijerph18094668 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Luijten, MAJ, van Muilekom, MM, Teela, L, et al. The impact of lockdown during the COVID-19 pandemic on mental and social health of children and adolescents. Qual Life Res. 2021;30(10):2795-2804. doi: 10.1007/s11136-021-02861-x CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Brannen, DE, Stanley, SA. Critical issues in bioterrorism preparedness: before and after September 2001. J Public Health Manag Pract. 2004;10(4):290-8. doi: 10.1097/00124784-200407000-00005 CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ludtke, JR, Narayan, R, Matariyeh, A, et al. Willingness to respond for radiologic incidents: a hands-on approach. Am J Disaster Med. 2014;9(4):259-72. doi: 10.5055/ajdm.2014.0178 CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Brannen, DE, Howell, M, Steveley, A, Webb, J, Owsley, D. Syndromic surveillance data for accidental fall injury. Online J Public Health Inform. 2021;13(3):e18. doi: 10.5210/ojphi.v13i3.10264 CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Brannen, DE, Caudill, K, Cottingim, S, et al. Medication adherence and fear among the public health system responders to a bioterrorism pandemic. Poster presented at Public Health Preparedness Summit; April 17-20, 2018; Atlanta, GA. doi:10.13140/RG.2.2.13096.06407CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brannen, DE, Barcus, R, McDonnell, MA, Price, A, Alsept, C, Caudill, K. Mental health triage tools for medically cleared disaster survivors: an evaluation by MRC volunteers and public health workers. Disaster Med Public Health Prep. 2013;7(1):20-8. doi: 10.1001/dmp.2012.49. PMID: 23109617 CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Jones, SE, Ethier, KA, Hertz, M, et al. Mental health, suicidality, and connectedness among high school students during the COVID-19 pandemic — Adolescent Behaviors and Experiences Survey, United States, January – June 2021. MMWR Suppl. 2022;71(Suppl-3):16-21. doi: 10.15585/mmwr.su7103a3 CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Murthy, VH. Protecting youth mental health. Published 2021. https://www.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/surgeon-general-youth-mental-health-advisory.pdf Google Scholar
Sparks, SD. Students are behaving badly in class. Excessive screen time might be to blame. Student Well-Being, Education Week Research Center, Education Week, April 12, 2022. Accessed May 11, 2022. https://www.edweek.org/leadership/students-are-behaving-badly-in-class-excessive-screen-time-might-be-to-blame/2022/04. Accessed May 12, 2022Google Scholar
American Academy of Pediatrics. Declaration of a National Emergency in Child and Adolescent Mental Health. Published October 19, 2021. https://www.aap.org/en/advocacy/child-and-adolescent-healthy-mental-development/aap-aacap-cha-declaration-of-a-national-emergency-in-child-and-adolescent-mental-health Google Scholar
Fannin, A, Brannen, DE, Howell, M, Martin, S. Using functional needs and personal care assistance rather than disability status during chronic care triage in community mass care. Disaster Med Public Health Prep. 2015;9(3):265-74. doi: 10.1017/dmp.2015.21 CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Brannen, DE, Alhammad, A, Branum, M, Schmitt, A. International air travel to Ohio, USA, and the impact on malaria, influenza, and hepatitis A. Scientifica. 2016;2016:8258946. doi: 10.1155/2016/8258946 CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed