Purpose

Measures taken to limit the spread of the COVID-19 may have had unintended consequences for the mental and somatic health of children and adolescents.

Methods

A nationwide three-wave survey in a representative sample of 12–16 year olds in Norway, with baseline data collected in January 2019 (n = 9,240; 49% girls) and follow-ups in June 2020 (n = 3,564; 49% girls) and June 2021 (n = 3,540; 47% girls). Linear mixed-effects models were used to estimate change and identify predictors thereof in mental and somatic health complaints.

Results

Following an initial stable trend from before the pandemic to the early phase, both mental health problems (predicted value at T1 .56 [CI .55, .58], T1-T2 change −.04 [CI −.07, −.02], T2-T3 change .12 [CI .09, .14]) and somatic health complaints (predicted value at T1 .59 [95% CI .58, .61], T1-T2 difference −.09 [95% CI −.11, −.65], T2-T3 difference .18 [95% CI .15, .21]) increased significantly 15 months into the pandemic, when controlling for age in the models. When compared to boys, girls had a significantly more pronounced increase in mental health problems and somatic health; loneliness in the early stages of the pandemic significantly predicted health complaints one year later, both mental and somatic complaints.

Discussion

Our findings suggest that the prolonged pandemic situation and the related societal restrictions have had an impact on adolescent health in general and on the health of girls in particular. The rise in mental and somatic health complaints can in part be attributed to an increase in loneliness.

中文翻译：

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整个 COVID-19 大流行期间青少年心理和躯体健康投诉的变化：一项三波前瞻性纵向研究

目的

为限制 COVID-19 传播而采取的措施可能对儿童和青少年的身心健康产生了意想不到的后果。

方法

对挪威 12-16 岁具有代表性样本的全国性三波调查，基线数据收集于 2019 年 1 月（n = 9,240；49% 的女孩）和 2020 年 6 月的后续行动（n = 3,564；49% 的女孩） ) 和 2021 年 6 月（n = 3,540；47% 的女孩）。线性混合效应模型用于估计心理和躯体健康投诉的变化并确定其预测因子。

结果

在从大流行之前到早期阶段的初始稳定趋势之后，两种心理健康问题（T1 .56 [CI .55, .58] 时的预测值，T1-T2 变化 -.04 [CI -.07, -.02 ]，T2-T3 变化 .12 [CI .09, .14]）和躯体健康问题（T1 时的预测值 .59 [95% CI .58, .61]，T1-T2 差异 -.09 [95% CI -.11, -.65]，T2-T3 差异 .18 [95% CI .15, .21]）在模型中控制年龄时，在大流行 15 个月后显着增加。与男孩相比，女孩的心理健康问题和身体健康明显增加；大流行初期的孤独感显着预示了一年后的健康问题，包括精神和身体问题。

讨论

我们的研究结果表明，长期的大流行情况和相关的社会限制对青少年的整体健康，特别是对女孩的健康产生了影响。精神和身体健康问题的增加部分归因于孤独感的增加。