TY - JOUR
T1 - Positive Effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic on depression and anxiety in Chinese adolescents
AU - Yang, Xinhua
AU - Lawrence, Andrew
AU - Harrison, Phillippa
AU - Liu, Yanlong
AU - Chen, Liangliang
AU - Wang, Chenglei
AU - Yan, Chao
AU - Zahn, Roland
N1 - Funding Information:
RZ is a private psychiatrist service provider at The London Depression Institute and co-investigator on a Livanova-funded observational study of Vagus Nerve Stimulation for Depression. RZ has received honoraria for talks at medical symposia sponsored by Lundbeck as well as Janssen. He has collaborated with EMIS PLC and advises Depsee Ltd. He is affiliated with the D’Or Institute for Research and Education, Rio de Janeiro and has received funding from the Scients Institute USA, UK Medical Research Council, UK National Institute of Health and Care Research, Rosetrees Trust and US Brain & Behavior Research Foundation. The remaining authors declare they have no relevant financial or non-financial interests directly or indirectly related to the work.
Funding Information:
This study received funding from the MSc-PHD Talent project of Changning Health Commission (RCJD2022S08) and the East China Normal University and Health Joint Fund (2022JKXYD09003) to author XHY, the Clinical Project of Changning Health Commission (20194Y013) and Shanghai Health Commission (20204Y0499) to author LLC. Authors RZ and AJL received support from the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Maudsley Biomedical Research Centre (BRC). The funders were not involved in the study design, collection, analysis, interpretation of data, the writing of this article or the decision to submit it for publication.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2023, The Author(s).
PY - 2023/7/14
Y1 - 2023/7/14
N2 - The potential impact on mental health of home schooling and social isolation due to COVID-19 lockdowns has led to widespread concern, particularly for adolescents. However, studies including pre-pandemic data from longitudinal cohorts with an assessment of the longer-term impact of the Covid-19 pandemic beyond the first months of 2020 are scarce. This longitudinal study of 1534 adolescents attending a secondary school in Hunan province investigated self-reported symptoms of anxiety and depression using two validated scales (Screen for Child Anxiety Related Disorders, Child Mood and Feelings Questionnaire) at six time points before, during, and after the 2020 national lockdown restrictions in China. Perceived COVID-related stress was assessed by an author-developed scale at two timepoints during the lockdown. We investigated trends in symptoms over time with a fixed effects model and multiple imputations of missing data. Counter to our expectations, depressive and anxiety symptoms were reduced during the 2020 lockdown relative to pre-lockdown (depression: b = − 3.37, SE = 0.345, Cohen’s d = − 0.25, p < 0.0001; anxiety: b = − 4.55, SE = 0.382, Cohen’s d = − 0.30, p < 0.0001). Symptoms remained significantly reduced even after lockdown restrictions eased. Higher symptom levels during lockdown were associated with greater self-reported COVID-related stress (depression: b = 0.11, SE = 0.026, p < 0.0001; anxiety: b = 0.11, SE = 0.036, p < 0.0001). Although COVID-related stresses correlated with higher levels of anxiety and depression, the lockdown period was associated with improved symptom levels in the adolescents taking part in our study. School closures may have improved the mental health of adolescents in China. We speculate this beneficial effect of lockdown can be explained by the adverse effects of attending school itself such as exposure to bullying and achievement pressures.
AB - The potential impact on mental health of home schooling and social isolation due to COVID-19 lockdowns has led to widespread concern, particularly for adolescents. However, studies including pre-pandemic data from longitudinal cohorts with an assessment of the longer-term impact of the Covid-19 pandemic beyond the first months of 2020 are scarce. This longitudinal study of 1534 adolescents attending a secondary school in Hunan province investigated self-reported symptoms of anxiety and depression using two validated scales (Screen for Child Anxiety Related Disorders, Child Mood and Feelings Questionnaire) at six time points before, during, and after the 2020 national lockdown restrictions in China. Perceived COVID-related stress was assessed by an author-developed scale at two timepoints during the lockdown. We investigated trends in symptoms over time with a fixed effects model and multiple imputations of missing data. Counter to our expectations, depressive and anxiety symptoms were reduced during the 2020 lockdown relative to pre-lockdown (depression: b = − 3.37, SE = 0.345, Cohen’s d = − 0.25, p < 0.0001; anxiety: b = − 4.55, SE = 0.382, Cohen’s d = − 0.30, p < 0.0001). Symptoms remained significantly reduced even after lockdown restrictions eased. Higher symptom levels during lockdown were associated with greater self-reported COVID-related stress (depression: b = 0.11, SE = 0.026, p < 0.0001; anxiety: b = 0.11, SE = 0.036, p < 0.0001). Although COVID-related stresses correlated with higher levels of anxiety and depression, the lockdown period was associated with improved symptom levels in the adolescents taking part in our study. School closures may have improved the mental health of adolescents in China. We speculate this beneficial effect of lockdown can be explained by the adverse effects of attending school itself such as exposure to bullying and achievement pressures.
KW - depression
KW - anxiety
KW - covid-19
KW - lockdown
KW - adolescence
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85165551313&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1007/s00787-023-02263-z
DO - 10.1007/s00787-023-02263-z
M3 - Article
SN - 1018-8827
JO - European Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
JF - European Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
ER -