Runkle Jennifer D, Sugg Margaret M, Yadav Shrikanth, Harden Stella, Weiser Jaclyn, Michael Kurt
North Carolina Institute for Climate Studies, North Carolina State University, Asheville, NC, USA.
Department of Geography and Planning, Appalachian State University, Boone, NC, USA.
Crisis. 2023 Jan;44(1):29-40. doi: 10.1027/0227-5910/a000826. Epub 2021 Oct 22.
Data are scarce on assessing the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on young people. To examine changes in crisis text patterns in the United States during the pandemic compared to the prepandemic period. Nonintrusive data from a national digital crisis texting platform were analyzed using an interrupted time series design. Poisson regression with repeated-measures examined help-seeking patterns for stress, anxiety, depression, suicidal thoughts, and other mental health concerns in the pandemic (March 13 to July 20, 2020) compared to the prepandemic period (March 13 to July 20, 2019). An abrupt increase in national crisis response texts occurred during the pandemic for stress and anxiety, substance abuse, bereavement, isolation, and abuse compared to the prepandemic period. Similar trends of excess texts for isolation and abuse were reported among children (relative risk [RR]: 1.16, CI: 1.03, 1.31; RR: 1.15, CI: 1.09, 1.21) and adolescents (RR: 1.17, CI: 1.11, 1.24; RR: 1.08, CI: 1.05, 1.11), bereavement among Black (RR: 1.31, CI: 1.12, 1.54) and Hispanic (RR: 1.28, CI: 1.10, 1.49) texters, and isolation and bereavement in female (RR: 1.09, CI: 1.06, 1.11; RR: 1.21, CI: 1.13, 1.28) or nonconforming youth (RR: 1.19, CI: 1.08, 1.32; RR: 1.50, CI: 1.08, 2.09) texters. Conversely, the risks of reporting bullying, depression, relationship issues, and suicidal thoughts as reasons for texting were significantly lower during COVID-19. Results may underestimate crisis support-seeking in some groups because demographic data were not captured on all texters. Findings illuminated the real-time crisis response of young people across the United States and can inform more responsive interventions to alleviate the mental health consequences brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic.
关于评估新冠疫情对年轻人影响的数据十分匮乏。为了研究疫情期间与疫情前相比美国危机短信模式的变化。使用中断时间序列设计分析了来自全国数字危机短信平台的非侵入性数据。采用重复测量的泊松回归分析了疫情期间（2020年3月13日至7月20日）与疫情前时期（2019年3月13日至7月20日）相比，针对压力、焦虑、抑郁、自杀念头及其他心理健康问题的求助模式。与疫情前时期相比，疫情期间全国针对压力和焦虑、药物滥用、丧亲之痛、孤独及虐待的危机响应短信急剧增加。在儿童（相对风险[RR]：1.16，置信区间[CI]：1.03，1.31；RR：1.15，CI：1.09，1.21）和青少年（RR：1.17，CI：1.11，1.24；RR：1.08，CI：1.05，1.11）中，也报告了类似的孤独和虐待短信过量趋势，在黑人（RR：1.31，CI：1.12，1.54）和西班牙裔（RR：1.28，CI：1.10，1.49）短信发送者中存在丧亲之痛过量趋势，在女性（RR：1.09，CI：1.06，1.11；RR：1.21，CI：1.13，1.28）或非传统青年（RR：1.19，CI：1.08，1.32；RR：1.50，CI：1.08，2.09）短信发送者中存在孤独和丧亲之痛过量趋势。相反，在新冠疫情期间，将欺凌、抑郁、人际关系问题和自杀念头作为发短信原因报告的风险显著降低。由于并非所有短信发送者的人口统计学数据都被记录，结果可能低估了某些群体中寻求危机支持的情况。研究结果揭示了美国年轻人的实时危机响应情况，并可为更具针对性的干预措施提供参考，以减轻新冠疫情带来的心理健康影响。
