Mental Health Implications of the COVID-19 Pandemic Among Children and Adolescents: What Do We Know so Far?

Zoe I Listernick; Sherif M Badawy

doi:10.2147/PHMT.S315887

Mental Health Implications of the COVID-19 Pandemic Among Children and Adolescents: What Do We Know so Far?

Pediatric Health Med Ther. 2021 Dec 20:12:543-549. doi: 10.2147/PHMT.S315887. eCollection 2021.

Authors

Zoe I Listernick^{1

2}, Sherif M Badawy^{3

4}

Affiliations

¹ Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA.
² Department of Medical Education, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL, USA.
³ Division of Hematology, Oncology, and Stem Cell Transplantation, Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA.
⁴ Department of Pediatrics, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL, USA.

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic is an unprecedented time in global history and has many emerging challenges and consequences. While much of the world was focused on the physiological effects and medical interventions or preventions, this article highlights the effects on pediatric mental health. While research is still ongoing, preliminary data suggest a significant impact on the psychosocial wellbeing of the pediatric population. This article hopes to highlight the underlying etiology for this effect and possible mitigations including emphasis on mHealth as well as the future of telemedicine.

Keywords: COVID; COVID-19; adolescents; anxiety; children; coronavirus; depression; digital; ehealth; infants; interventions; mental; mental health; mhealth; mobile health; pandemic; parenting; parents; pediatric; psychiatry; psychology; psychosocial; racism; social isolation; social media; stress; well-being; youth.

Publication types

Review

Grants and funding

This project was supported by a grant (K23HL150232, PI: Badawy) from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute of the National Institutes of Health. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not represent the National Institutes of Health.