Lu Ma1, Mohsen Mazidi2, Ke Li1, Yixuan Li1, Shiqi Chen1, Richard Kirwan3, Haixia Zhou1, Na Yan1, Atif Rahman4, Weidong Wang5, Youfa Wang6. 1. Global Health Institute, School of Public Health, Xi'an Jiaotong University Health Science Center, Xi'an, Shaanxi, China. 2. Department of Twin Research and Genetic Epidemiology, King's College London, London, United Kingdom. 3. School of Biological and Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Science, Liverpool John Moores University, Liverpool, United Kingdom. 4. Department of Primary Care and Mental Health, Institute of Population Health, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, United Kingdom. 5. Department of Sociology, School of Sociology and Population Studies, Renmin University of China, Beijing, China. Electronic address: wwd@ruc.edu.cn. 6. Global Health Institute, School of Public Health, Xi'an Jiaotong University Health Science Center, Xi'an, Shaanxi, China. Electronic address: youfawang@gmail.com.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: This systematic review and meta-analysis examined the prevalence of depression, anxiety, sleep disorders, and posttraumatic stress symptoms among children and adolescents during global COVID-19 pandemic in 2019 to 2020, and the potential modifying effects of age and gender. METHODS: A literature search was conducted in PubMed, Web of Science, PsycINFO, and two Chinese academic databases (China National Knowledge Infrastructure and Wanfang) for studies published from December 2019 to September 2020 that reported the prevalence of above mental health problems among children and adolescents. Random-effects meta-analyses were used to estimate the pooled prevalence. RESULTS: Twenty-three studies (21 cross-sectional studies and 2 longitudinal studies) from two countries (i.e., China and Turkey) with 57,927 children and adolescents were identified. Depression, anxiety, sleep disorders, and posttraumatic stress symptoms were assessed in 12, 13, 2, and 2 studies, respectively. Meta-analysis of results from these studies showed that the pooled prevalence of depression, anxiety, sleep disorders, and posttraumatic stress symptoms were 29% (95%CI: 17%, 40%), 26% (95%CI: 16%, 35%), 44% (95%CI: 21%, 68%), and 48% (95%CI: -0.25, 1.21), respectively. The subgroup meta-analysis revealed that adolescents and females exhibited higher prevalence of depression and anxiety compared to children and males, respectively. LIMITATIONS: All studies in meta-analysis were from China limited the generalizability of our findings. CONCLUSIONS: Early evidence highlights the high prevalence of mental health problems among children and adolescents during the COVID-19 pandemic, especially among female and adolescents. Studies investigating the mental health of children and adolescents from countries other than China are urgently needed.
BACKGROUND: This systematic review and meta-analysis examined the prevalence of depression, anxiety, sleep disorders, and posttraumatic stress symptoms among children and adolescents during global COVID-19 pandemic in 2019 to 2020, and the potential modifying effects of age and gender. METHODS: A literature search was conducted in PubMed, Web of Science, PsycINFO, and two Chinese academic databases (China National Knowledge Infrastructure and Wanfang) for studies published from December 2019 to September 2020 that reported the prevalence of above mental health problems among children and adolescents. Random-effects meta-analyses were used to estimate the pooled prevalence. RESULTS: Twenty-three studies (21 cross-sectional studies and 2 longitudinal studies) from two countries (i.e., China and Turkey) with 57,927 children and adolescents were identified. Depression, anxiety, sleep disorders, and posttraumatic stress symptoms were assessed in 12, 13, 2, and 2 studies, respectively. Meta-analysis of results from these studies showed that the pooled prevalence of depression, anxiety, sleep disorders, and posttraumatic stress symptoms were 29% (95%CI: 17%, 40%), 26% (95%CI: 16%, 35%), 44% (95%CI: 21%, 68%), and 48% (95%CI: -0.25, 1.21), respectively. The subgroup meta-analysis revealed that adolescents and females exhibited higher prevalence of depression and anxiety compared to children and males, respectively. LIMITATIONS: All studies in meta-analysis were from China limited the generalizability of our findings. CONCLUSIONS: Early evidence highlights the high prevalence of mental health problems among children and adolescents during the COVID-19 pandemic, especially among female and adolescents. Studies investigating the mental health of children and adolescents from countries other than China are urgently needed.
Authors: Heba Jafar Sabbagh; Wafaa Abdelaziz; Waleed Alghamdi; Maryam Quritum; Nada AbuBakr AlKhateeb; Joud Abourdan; Nafeesa Qureshi; Shabnum Qureshi; Ahmed H N Hamoud; Nada Mahmoud; Ruba Odeh; Nuraldeen Maher Al-Khanati; Rawiah Jaber; Abdulrahman Loaie Balkhoyor; Mohammed Shabi; Morenike Oluwatoyin Folayan; Omolola Alade; Noha Gomaa; Raqiya Alnahdi; Nawal A Mahmoud; Hanane El Wazziki; Manal Alnaas; Bahia Samodien; Rawa A Mahmoud; Nour Abu Assab; Sherin Saad; Sondos G Alhachim; Maha El Tantawi Journal: Int J Environ Res Public Health Date: 2022-08-24 Impact factor: 4.614
Authors: Matthew Owens; Ellen Townsend; Eleanor Hall; Tanisha Bhatia; Rosie Fitzgibbon; Francesca Miller-Lakin Journal: Int J Environ Res Public Health Date: 2022-01-20 Impact factor: 3.390