Grzejszczak Jagoda, Strzelecki Dominik, Gabryelska Agata, Kotlicka-Antczak Magdalena
Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Medical University of Lodz, 92-216 Lodz, Poland.
Department of Affective and Psychotic Disorders, Medical University of Lodz, 92-216 Lodz, Poland.
J Clin Med. 2024 Jan 27;13(3):744. doi: 10.3390/jcm13030744.
The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the psychological state of the under-18 population includes an increased risk of psychopathological symptoms development and exacerbation of already present psychiatric disorders. This study aimed to assess the prevalence of mental health problems in Polish children and adolescents with a focus on suicidal and self-harm behavior with the impact of the pandemic.
The questionnaire collected demographic data, information regarding mental states and psychopathological symptoms, history of self-harm and suicidal behaviors, as well as the experience of psychological, and physical violence, and suicidal self-harm behaviors before and during the COVID-19 pandemic.
In the final analysis, 782 responses were included. Self-evaluation of general and mental health scores was significantly lower during the pandemic among children (both < 0.001) and adolescents (both < 0.001). Moreover, general and mental health scores were lower among adolescents compared to children before (both < 0.001) and during (both < 0.001) the pandemic. The frequency of seeking help because of mental health problems increased during the pandemic among children and adolescents, while no changes were observed in the prevalence of psychiatric hospitalizations in either of the populations ( = 0.317 and = 1.00, respectively). Out of autoregressive behaviors among children during the pandemic period, only the frequency of thinking about death increased ( = 0.038). No suicidal attempts were undertaken by children in either of the evaluated time periods. The presence of all autoaggressive behaviors was greater among adolescents compared to children both before and during the COVID-19 pandemic (all <0.05).
A subjective decrease in psychophysical well-being, an increase in the frequency of seeking mental health help during the pandemic, as well as an increased prevalence of depressive and anxiety symptoms were observed in the under-18 population as a potential consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic and related socioeconomic changes. The marked increase in self-harm behavior in the adolescent population (age > 12) and the marked increase in the frequency of death thinking in children (age ≤ 12) suggests the need for greater awareness and easier access to professional help from mental health specialists, particularly in a time of unprecedented stress and social isolation.
新冠疫情对18岁以下人群心理状态的影响包括心理病理症状发展风险增加以及已有精神障碍的加剧。本研究旨在评估波兰儿童和青少年心理健康问题的患病率，重点关注自杀和自我伤害行为以及疫情的影响。
问卷收集了人口统计学数据、有关心理状态和心理病理症状的信息、自我伤害和自杀行为史，以及新冠疫情之前和期间的心理和身体暴力经历及自杀性自我伤害行为。
最终分析纳入了782份回复。在疫情期间，儿童（均<0.001）和青少年（均<0.001）对总体健康和心理健康评分的自我评估显著更低。此外，在疫情之前（均<0.001）和期间（均<0.001），青少年的总体健康和心理健康评分均低于儿童。在疫情期间，儿童和青少年因心理健康问题寻求帮助的频率增加，而这两个人群中精神科住院患病率均未观察到变化（分别为=0.317和=1.00）。在疫情期间儿童的自伤行为中，只有想到死亡的频率增加了（=0.038）。在两个评估时间段内，儿童均未进行自杀尝试。在新冠疫情之前和期间，青少年中所有自伤行为的发生率均高于儿童（均<0.05）。
观察到18岁以下人群心理生理幸福感主观下降、疫情期间寻求心理健康帮助的频率增加以及抑郁和焦虑症状患病率上升，这可能是新冠疫情及相关社会经济变化的结果。青少年人群（年龄>12岁）自我伤害行为显著增加以及儿童（年龄≤12岁）想到死亡的频率显著增加，表明需要提高认识并使心理健康专家提供的专业帮助更容易获得，尤其是在前所未有的压力和社会隔离时期。
