Child and Adolescent Mental Health in a Period of Fewer COVID-19-Related Restrictions in an Urban Population in Germany
The aim of this study was to assess the mental health situation of children and adolescents during a period of less strict COVID-19-pandemic-related measures after the first pandemic wave. This cross-sectional study was conducted in July 2021 by carrying out an online survey among children and adole...
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2024-10-01
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| author | Anna Konopka Amand Führer Mascha Binder Sophie Diexer Thomas Frese Michael Gekle Matthias Girndt Cornelia Gottschick Jessica Hoell Bianca Klee Katharina Kreilinger Irene Moor Jonas Rosendahl Daniel Sedding Jan-Henning Klusmann Rafael Mikolajczyk Katja Raberger |
| author_facet | Anna Konopka Amand Führer Mascha Binder Sophie Diexer Thomas Frese Michael Gekle Matthias Girndt Cornelia Gottschick Jessica Hoell Bianca Klee Katharina Kreilinger Irene Moor Jonas Rosendahl Daniel Sedding Jan-Henning Klusmann Rafael Mikolajczyk Katja Raberger |
| author_sort | Anna Konopka |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The aim of this study was to assess the mental health situation of children and adolescents during a period of less strict COVID-19-pandemic-related measures after the first pandemic wave. This cross-sectional study was conducted in July 2021 by carrying out an online survey among children and adolescents (aged 10–18 years) from Halle (Saale), Germany (<i>n</i> = 233). The questionnaire measured important aspects of mental health among young people, namely health-related quality of life (HRQoL, using the self-report version of the KIDSCREEN-10), mental health problems in general (using the SDQ), depressive symptoms (using the CES-DC), and psychosomatic complaints (using the HBSC symptom checklist). In addition, other important health issues such as sleep behavior and related difficulties, disordered eating, and any positive consequences of the pandemic were addressed. The results were analyzed using descriptive statistics. A total of 223 children participated in the survey. About 69.7% of the participating children and adolescents had a high HRQoL, while 10.5% displayed abnormal results on the SDQ. There were indications of emotional problems in 16.5% of the participants based on the SDQ subscales. Almost 44% of the participants were screened as positive for depressive symptoms on the CES-DC, with girls and older adolescents being more likely to be affected. This also applied for psychosomatic complaints. Here, irritability was experienced at least once a week or more frequently by 58.9% of the children and adolescents. Although we had a small sample size, this study showed a high prevalence of mental health problems regarding the SDQ and HRQoL. However, our study population showed a better mental health than comparable studies conducted earlier in the pandemic. Depressive symptoms were still substantially higher than those in pre-pandemic data. We hypothesize that this might reflect the fact that there were a few COVID-19-related restrictions at the time when our survey took place. Based on these findings, we assume that the mental health of children and adolescents differed between different phases in the pandemic. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-9c9f0260ee434442b6501c8e0ec4482e |
| institution | DOAJ |
| issn | 2673-5318 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2024-10-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
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| series | Psychiatry International |
| spelling | doaj-art-9c9f0260ee434442b6501c8e0ec4482e2025-08-20T02:39:41ZengMDPI AGPsychiatry International2673-53182024-10-015471873710.3390/psychiatryint5040050Child and Adolescent Mental Health in a Period of Fewer COVID-19-Related Restrictions in an Urban Population in GermanyAnna Konopka0Amand Führer1Mascha Binder2Sophie Diexer3Thomas Frese4Michael Gekle5Matthias Girndt6Cornelia Gottschick7Jessica Hoell8Bianca Klee9Katharina Kreilinger10Irene Moor11Jonas Rosendahl12Daniel Sedding13Jan-Henning Klusmann14Rafael Mikolajczyk15Katja Raberger16Institute for Medical Epidemiology, Biometrics and Informatics (IMEBI), Interdisciplinary Center for Health Sciences, Medical School of the Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, 06097 Halle, GermanyInstitute for Medical Epidemiology, Biometrics and Informatics (IMEBI), Interdisciplinary Center for Health Sciences, Medical School of the Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, 06097 Halle, GermanyDepartment of Internal Medicine IV, Oncology/Haematology, Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, 06120 Halle, GermanyInstitute for Medical Epidemiology, Biometrics and Informatics (IMEBI), Interdisciplinary Center for Health Sciences, Medical School of the Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, 06097 Halle, GermanyInstitute of General Practice and Family Medicine, Interdisciplinary Center for Health Sciences, Medical Faculty of the Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, 06112 Halle, GermanyJulius-Bernstein-Institute of Physiology, Medical Faculty of the Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, 06112 Halle, GermanyDepartment of Internal Medicine II, Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, 06120 Halle, GermanyInstitute for Medical Epidemiology, Biometrics and Informatics (IMEBI), Interdisciplinary Center for Health Sciences, Medical School of the Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, 06097 Halle, GermanyDepartment of Pediatrics I, University Hospital, Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, 06120 Halle, GermanyInstitute for Medical Epidemiology, Biometrics and Informatics (IMEBI), Interdisciplinary Center for Health Sciences, Medical School of the Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, 06097 Halle, GermanyDepartment of Pediatrics I, University Hospital, Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, 06120 Halle, GermanyInstitute for Medical Sociology, Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, 06112 Halle, GermanyDepartment of Internal Medicine I, Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, 06120 Halle, GermanyDepartment of Cardiology and Intensive Care Medicine, Mid-German Heart Center, Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, 06120 Halle, GermanyDepartment of Pediatrics, Goethe University Frankfurt, 60596 Frankfurt, GermanyInstitute for Medical Epidemiology, Biometrics and Informatics (IMEBI), Interdisciplinary Center for Health Sciences, Medical School of the Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, 06097 Halle, GermanyDepartment of Pediatrics I, University Hospital, Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, 06120 Halle, GermanyThe aim of this study was to assess the mental health situation of children and adolescents during a period of less strict COVID-19-pandemic-related measures after the first pandemic wave. This cross-sectional study was conducted in July 2021 by carrying out an online survey among children and adolescents (aged 10–18 years) from Halle (Saale), Germany (<i>n</i> = 233). The questionnaire measured important aspects of mental health among young people, namely health-related quality of life (HRQoL, using the self-report version of the KIDSCREEN-10), mental health problems in general (using the SDQ), depressive symptoms (using the CES-DC), and psychosomatic complaints (using the HBSC symptom checklist). In addition, other important health issues such as sleep behavior and related difficulties, disordered eating, and any positive consequences of the pandemic were addressed. The results were analyzed using descriptive statistics. A total of 223 children participated in the survey. About 69.7% of the participating children and adolescents had a high HRQoL, while 10.5% displayed abnormal results on the SDQ. There were indications of emotional problems in 16.5% of the participants based on the SDQ subscales. Almost 44% of the participants were screened as positive for depressive symptoms on the CES-DC, with girls and older adolescents being more likely to be affected. This also applied for psychosomatic complaints. Here, irritability was experienced at least once a week or more frequently by 58.9% of the children and adolescents. Although we had a small sample size, this study showed a high prevalence of mental health problems regarding the SDQ and HRQoL. However, our study population showed a better mental health than comparable studies conducted earlier in the pandemic. Depressive symptoms were still substantially higher than those in pre-pandemic data. We hypothesize that this might reflect the fact that there were a few COVID-19-related restrictions at the time when our survey took place. Based on these findings, we assume that the mental health of children and adolescents differed between different phases in the pandemic.https://www.mdpi.com/2673-5318/5/4/50COVID-19children and adolescentsmental healthHRQoLpandemicSDQ |
| spellingShingle | Anna Konopka Amand Führer Mascha Binder Sophie Diexer Thomas Frese Michael Gekle Matthias Girndt Cornelia Gottschick Jessica Hoell Bianca Klee Katharina Kreilinger Irene Moor Jonas Rosendahl Daniel Sedding Jan-Henning Klusmann Rafael Mikolajczyk Katja Raberger Child and Adolescent Mental Health in a Period of Fewer COVID-19-Related Restrictions in an Urban Population in Germany Psychiatry International COVID-19 children and adolescents mental health HRQoL pandemic SDQ |
| title | Child and Adolescent Mental Health in a Period of Fewer COVID-19-Related Restrictions in an Urban Population in Germany |
| title_full | Child and Adolescent Mental Health in a Period of Fewer COVID-19-Related Restrictions in an Urban Population in Germany |
| title_fullStr | Child and Adolescent Mental Health in a Period of Fewer COVID-19-Related Restrictions in an Urban Population in Germany |
| title_full_unstemmed | Child and Adolescent Mental Health in a Period of Fewer COVID-19-Related Restrictions in an Urban Population in Germany |
| title_short | Child and Adolescent Mental Health in a Period of Fewer COVID-19-Related Restrictions in an Urban Population in Germany |
| title_sort | child and adolescent mental health in a period of fewer covid 19 related restrictions in an urban population in germany |
| topic | COVID-19 children and adolescents mental health HRQoL pandemic SDQ |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2673-5318/5/4/50 |
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