Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on mental healthcare consultations among children and adolescents in Norway: a nationwide registry study

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Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic and its associated restrictions may have affected children and adolescent’s mental health adversely. We cast light on this question using primary and specialist consultations data for the entire population of children of age 6–19 years in Norway ( N = 908 272). Our outcomes are the monthly likelihood of having a consultation or hospitalization related to mental health problems and common mental health diagnoses. We compared a pandemic (2019–2021) to a pre-pandemic (2017–2019) cohort using event study and difference-in-difference designs that separate the shock of the pandemic from linear period trends and seasonal variation. We found temporary reductions in all mental health consultations during lockdown in spring 2020. In fall 2020 and winter 2021, consultation volumes in primary care increased, stabilizing at a higher level in 2021. Consultations in specialist care increased from spring 2021. Our findings could suggest a worsening of mental health among adolescents.

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The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s00787-022-02046-y.

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Rapid Systematic Review: The Impact of Social Isolation and Loneliness on the Mental Health of Children and Adolescents in the Context of COVID-19

Maria Loades, Eleanor Chatburn, Nina Higson-Sweeney … (2020)

Objective Disease containment of COVID-19 has necessitated widespread social isolation. We aimed to establish what is known about how loneliness and disease containment measures impact on the mental health in children and adolescents. Method For this rapid review, we searched MEDLINE, PSYCHINFO, and Web of Science for articles published between 01/01/1946 and 03/29/2020. 20% of articles were double screened using pre-defined criteria and 20% of data was double extracted for quality assurance. Results 83 articles (80 studies) met inclusion criteria. Of these, 63 studies reported on the impact of social isolation and loneliness on the mental health of previously healthy children and adolescents (n=51,576; mean age 15.3) 61 studies were observational; 18 were longitudinal and 43 cross sectional studies assessing self-reported loneliness in healthy children and adolescents. One of these studies was a retrospective investigation after a pandemic. Two studies evaluated interventions. Studies had a high risk of bias although longitudinal studies were of better methodological quality. Social isolation and loneliness increased the risk of depression, and possibly anxiety at the time loneliness was measured and between 0.25 to 9 years later. Duration of loneliness was more strongly correlated with mental health symptoms than intensity of loneliness. Conclusion Children and adolescents are probably more likely to experience high rates of depression and probably anxiety during and after enforced isolation ends. This may increase as enforced isolation continues. Clinical services should offer preventative support and early intervention where possible and be prepared for an increase in mental health problems.

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Lifetime prevalence of mental disorders in U.S. adolescents: results from the National Comorbidity Survey Replication--Adolescent Supplement (NCS-A).

Kathleen Ries Merikangas, Jian-ping He, Marcy Burstein … (2010)

To present estimates of the lifetime prevalence of DSM-IV mental disorders with and without severe impairment, their comorbidity across broad classes of disorder, and their sociodemographic correlates. The National Comorbidity Survey-Adolescent Supplement NCS-A is a nationally representative face-to-face survey of 10,123 adolescents aged 13 to 18 years in the continental United States. DSM-IV mental disorders were assessed using a modified version of the fully structured World Health Organization Composite International Diagnostic Interview. Anxiety disorders were the most common condition (31.9%), followed by behavior disorders (19.1%), mood disorders (14.3%), and substance use disorders (11.4%), with approximately 40% of participants with one class of disorder also meeting criteria for another class of lifetime disorder. The overall prevalence of disorders with severe impairment and/or distress was 22.2% (11.2% with mood disorders, 8.3% with anxiety disorders, and 9.6% behavior disorders). The median age of onset for disorder classes was earliest for anxiety (6 years), followed by 11 years for behavior, 13 years for mood, and 15 years for substance use disorders. These findings provide the first prevalence data on a broad range of mental disorders in a nationally representative sample of U.S. adolescents. Approximately one in every four to five youth in the U.S. meets criteria for a mental disorder with severe impairment across their lifetime. The likelihood that common mental disorders in adults first emerge in childhood and adolescence highlights the need for a transition from the common focus on treatment of U.S. youth to that of prevention and early intervention. Copyright © 2010 American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) and Mental Health for Children and Adolescents

Ezra Golberstein, Hefei Wen, Benjamin F. Miller (2020)

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Author and article information

Contributors

Miriam Evensen:

ORCID: http://orcid.org/0000-0003-1839-0679

Miriam.Evensen@fhi.no

Journal

Journal ID (nlm-ta): Eur Child Adolesc Psychiatry

Journal ID (iso-abbrev): Eur Child Adolesc Psychiatry

Title: European Child & Adolescent Psychiatry

Publisher: Springer Berlin Heidelberg (Berlin/Heidelberg )

ISSN (Print): 1018-8827

ISSN (Electronic): 1435-165X

Publication date (Electronic): 27 July 2022

Publication date PMC-release: 27 July 2022

Pages: 1-11

Affiliations

[1 ]GRID grid.418193.6, ISNI 0000 0001 1541 4204, Department of Health and Inequality, , Norwegian Institute of Public Health, ; Skøyen, Postboks 222, 0213 Oslo, Norway

[2 ]GRID grid.435068.c, ISNI 0000 0001 1957 6366, Institute for Social Research, ; Oslo, Norway

[3 ]GRID grid.418193.6, ISNI 0000 0001 1541 4204, Centre for Evaluation of Public Health Measures, , Norwegian Institute of Public Health, ; Oslo, Norway

[4 ]GRID grid.418193.6, ISNI 0000 0001 1541 4204, Department of Health Services Research, , Norwegian Institute of Public Health, ; Oslo, Norway

[5 ]GRID grid.418193.6, ISNI 0000 0001 1541 4204, Department of Mental Health and Suicide, , Norwegian Institute of Public Health, ; Oslo, Norway

[6 ]GRID grid.418193.6, ISNI 0000 0001 1541 4204, Department of Mental Disorders, , Norwegian Institute of Public Health, ; Oslo, Norway

[7 ]GRID grid.5510.1, ISNI 0000 0004 1936 8921, Department of Psychology, , University of Oslo, ; Oslo, Norway

[8 ]GRID grid.418193.6, ISNI 0000 0001 1541 4204, Centre for Disease Burden, , Norwegian Institute of Public Health, ; Bergen, Norway

[9 ]GRID grid.418193.6, ISNI 0000 0001 1541 4204, Department of Child Health and Development, , Norwegian Institute of Public Health, ; Oslo, Norway

[10 ]GRID grid.5510.1, ISNI 0000 0004 1936 8921, Department of Health Management and Health Economics, , University of Oslo, ; Oslo, Norway

Author information

Miriam Evensen http://orcid.org/0000-0003-1839-0679

Article

Publisher ID: 2046

DOI: 10.1007/s00787-022-02046-y

PMC ID: 9330988

PubMed ID: 35896740

SO-VID: f705952e-bf15-470c-8e3e-375706bf77f5

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Open AccessThis article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article's Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.

History

Date received : 17 October 2021

Date accepted : 6 July 2022

Funding

Funded by: Norwegian Institute of Public Health (FHI)

Open Access :

Open access funding provided by Norwegian Institute of Public Health (FHI)

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Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on mental healthcare consultations among children and adolescents in Norway: a nationwide registry study

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Novel Coronavirus Disease COVID-19

Most cited references 29

Rapid Systematic Review: The Impact of Social Isolation and Loneliness on the Mental Health of Children and Adolescents in the Context of COVID-19

Lifetime prevalence of mental disorders in U.S. adolescents: results from the National Comorbidity Survey Replication--Adolescent Supplement (NCS-A).

Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) and Mental Health for Children and Adolescents

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