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

Abstract

Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) and Mental Health for Children and AdolescentsStates and localities are taking unprecedented steps to respond to the public health threat posed by the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.Among the measures intended to promote social distancing, many schools have been closed and classes shifted to homebased distance-learning models.The first school closures began in mid-March 2020 and some states have already closed schools for the rest of the academic year.Nearly all of the 55 million students in kindergarten through 12th grade in the US are affected by these closures.School closures substantially disrupt the lives of students and their families and may have consequences for child health.As such, we must consider the potential associations school closures have with children's well-being and what can be done to mitigate them.Children and adolescents are generally healthy and do not require much health care outside of regular checkups and immunizations.However, mental health care is very important for children and adolescents.Most mental health disorders begin in childhood, making it essential that mental health needs are identified early and treated during this sensitive time in child development. 1f untreated, mental health problems can lead to many negative health and social outcomes.The COVID-19 pandemic may worsen existing mental health problems and lead to more cases among children and adolescents because of the unique combination of the public health crisis, social isolation, and economic recession.Economic downturns are associated with increased mental health problems for youth that may be affected by the ways that economic downturns affect adult unemployment, adult mental health, and child maltreatment. 2ducators, administrators, and policy makers must minimize the disruptions that school closures will have on academic development.Schools offer many other critical services to students outside of education.For example, schools are a major source of nutrition for many students, and ensuring food security has been a common component of school closure plans.However, other services are equally essential to children's health and must be addressed.One potentially overlooked role played by schools is the delivery of health care, and especially of mental health services.Schools have long served as a de facto mental health system for many children and adolescents. 3Data from the nationally representative National Survey of Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) include information on mental health services for children age 12 to 17 years and illustrate the implications of school closures on access to mental health services.An analysis of the 2014 NSDUH by found that 13.2% of adolescents received some sort of mental health ser-

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Affiliated Institutions

• Harvard Pilgrim Health Care US
• Harvard University US
• University of Minnesota US
• Minnesota Department of Health US

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