Purpose

New York City (NYC) was the global epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic in spring 2020. A “shelter in place” mandate was issued in March 2020. The effect on vulnerable populations of adolescent and young adult females has not been well documented.

Methods

We administered a monthly online survey between May and November 2020 to adolescent and young adult females participating in a longitudinal study at Mount Sinai Adolescent Health Center. Surveys asked about death of loved ones, financial impacts, social interactions, exposure to dangerous situations, and mental health impacts. Differences in responses by age, race/ethnicity, and living situation were assessed, and compared to data obtained on the same cohort prior to the pandemic.

Results

Four hundred seventeen females aged 15–28 years completed at least one survey, 94% of whom were youth of color. A third of responders (33%) had lost relatives or other people they were close to (loved ones). Most (68%) reported one or more financial losses, and 21% reported food insecurity, with those not living with parents or a guardian experiencing significantly higher rates. One in 10 reported experiencing sexual abuse or interpersonal partner violence during the “shelter in place” period. Over a third (37%) reported symptoms of clinical depression, which represented a significant increase compared to before the pandemic (p = .01). The negative financial impacts and higher proportion of patients with depressive symptomatology remained elevated for adolescents without support at home.

Conclusions

The COVID-19 pandemic had unprecedented negative short-term financial and psychosocial health impacts on inner-city female youth with potential long-term negative impacts.

中文翻译：

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COVID-19 缓解措施对纽约市内城区女性青少年的影响

目的

纽约市 (NYC) 是 2020 年春季 COVID-19 大流行的全球震中。2020 年 3 月发布了“就地避难”命令。这对青少年和年轻成年女性等弱势群体的影响尚未得到充分记录。

方法

2020 年 5 月至 11 月期间，我们对参与西奈山青少年健康中心纵向研究的青少年和年轻成年女性进行了每月在线调查。调查询问了亲人的死亡、财务影响、社会互动、暴露于危险情况以及心理健康影响。对不同年龄、种族/族裔和生活状况的反应差异进行了评估，并与大流行前同一队列获得的数据进行了比较。

结果

417 名 15 至 28 岁的女性至少完成了一项调查，其中 94% 是有色人种青年。三分之一的受访者 (33%) 失去了亲戚或其他亲近的人（亲人）。大多数人 (68%) 报告了一项或多项经济损失，21% 的人报告了粮食不安全，其中那些不与父母或监护人住在一起的人的损失率要高得多。十分之一的人报告在“就地避难”期间经历过性虐待或人际伴侣暴力。超过三分之一 (37%) 的人报告有临床抑郁症症状，与大流行之前相比显着增加 ( p  = .01)。对于没有家庭支持的青少年来说，负面的经济影响和患有抑郁症状的患者比例仍然很高。

结论

COVID-19 大流行对市中心女性青年造成了前所未有的短期财务和社会心理健康负面影响，并可能产生长期负面影响。