Department of Health and Inequality, Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Skøyen, Postboks 222, 0213, Oslo, Norway.
Institute for Social Research, Oslo, Norway.
Eur Child Adolesc Psychiatry. 2023 Jun;32(6):1025-1035. doi: 10.1007/s00787-022-02046-y. Epub 2022 Jul 27.
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.
新冠疫情及其相关限制可能对儿童和青少年的心理健康产生了不利影响。我们利用挪威所有 6-19 岁儿童的初级保健和专科咨询数据（N=908272）来探讨这个问题。我们的研究结果是与心理健康问题和常见精神诊断相关的每月咨询或住院的可能性。我们使用事件研究和差异中的差异设计，将疫情的冲击与线性趋势和季节性变化分开，将疫情（2019-2021 年）与大流行前（2017-2019 年）队列进行了比较。我们发现，2020 年春季封锁期间，所有心理健康咨询都出现了暂时减少。2020 年秋季和 2021 年冬季，初级保健中的咨询量增加，并在 2021 年稳定在更高水平。专科护理中的咨询量从 2021 年春季开始增加。我们的研究结果表明，青少年的心理健康状况可能在恶化。
