Review: Mental health impacts of the COVID‐19 pandemic on children and youth – a systematic review
Hasina Samji, Judy Wu, Amilya Ladak, Caralyn Vossen, S. Evelyn Stewart, Naomi Dove +2 more
Child and Adolescent Mental Health
Abstract
BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic has posed an unprecedented threat to global mental health. Children and adolescents may be more susceptible to mental health impacts related to their vulnerable developmental stage, fear of infection, home confinement, suspension of regular school and extracurricular activities, physical distancing mandates, and larger scale threats such as global financial recessions and associated impacts. Our objective was to review existing evidence of the COVID-19 pandemic's global impact on the mental health of children and adolescents <19 years of age and to identify personal and contextual factors that may enhance risk or confer protection in relation to mental health outcomes. METHODS: We conducted a search of peer-reviewed and preprint research published in Engli