key: cord-0948433-svrgbrn1
authors: D Hudson, Lee
title: Mental health of children and young people since the start of the pandemic
date: 2022-01-03
journal: Clin Child Psychol Psychiatry
DOI: 10.1177/13591045211072721
sha: 859cd3e2aa2477c5d0de816eb3803965b9537863
doc_id: 948433
cord_uid: svrgbrn1

nan

although it has been postulated that amongst other factors, disruption to routine and pressure to exercise have played a part (Solmi et al., 2021) . Not all CYP of course have done badly and some thrived especially during the first wave (Ford et al., 2021 )so we need better research to understand why some did badly and some did not.

One key area opened up widely in the pandemic has been the impact of inequalities. In the UK NHS digital mental health data, black CYP were three times more likely to live in a household that had recently fallen behind with bills. The impact on education has also been worse in certain ethnic groups. From a cohort of 40,000 UK households, the National Foundation for Educational Research found that in the first wave of the pandemic, most children spent less than 3 hours per day on learning activities, and pupils from higher income households spent the most time on home school work (Eivers et al., 2020) . Bayrakdar and colleagues reported from the Understanding Society Study that children who received free school meals, children from lower-educated and single-parent families and children with Pakistani or Bangladeshi backgrounds spent much less time on home schooling during the first wave (Bayrakdar & Guveli, 2020) . Such disparities are concerning for the prospects of this young generation, in particular increasing existing disparities between socioeconomic and ethnic groupings. This critically also includes mental health outcomes given the associations between socio-economic factors such as poverty with worse mental health throughout the life course (Elliott, 2016) .

It is upon this theme, the impact of the pandemic on CYP, that this edition of Clinical Child Psychology and Psychiatry focuses, with a wide range of papers on this topic. All of them speak to how and why CYP have been affected, and provide important information on the needs of these CYP, and how things might be done differently. At the time of writing, with the new Omicron variant spreading around the world, we are reminded that this pandemic may still have new surprises ahead, for example through new variants. The likelihood of repeat uses of public health interventions such as lockdowns seems unclear. In this context, we are unready for potential repeat disruptions for CYP's lives which appear to have been associated with worsened mental health for many. Solutions to the increase in need for care for mental health in CYP have not progressed since before the pandemic, and we knew that in many places it already was unfit for purpose. Couched as it is in an era of divisive politics, the COVID-19 pandemic has led to polarised views and antagonism about how the pandemic has and should been managed. Often however, the world, especially through science, challenges us to take and hold two contradictory positions in our minds simultaneously. It is entirely possible to appreciate the need for public health interventions to support one part of society, whilst simultaneously appreciating the needs of the impact of those interventions upon another. Whatever anyone's politics are, CYP are essential not only as current, vulnerable citizens requiring advocacy, but also as the citizens who will mould and deliver the future -they most certainly will be paying for the bill. We owe it to them to understand the impacts upon them better, make a clear voice for them, and to think outside the box to how we can protect and improve their well-being.

Longitudinal change in adolescent depression and anxiety symptoms from before to during the COVID-19 pandemic: A collaborative of 12 samples from 3 countries

Inequalities in home learning and schools' provision of distance teaching during school closure of COVID-19 lockdown in the UK. ISER Working Paper Series

Wider collateral damage to children in the UK because of the social distancing measures designed to reduce the impact of COVID-19 in adults

Disruptions experienced by young people aged 16-24 during first months of the Covid-19 lockdown

Home learning during COVID-19: Findings from the understanding society longitudinal study

Poverty and mental health: A review to inform the Joseph Rowntree Foundation's Anti-Poverty Strategy

Mental health of children and young people during pandemic

Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on child and adolescent mental health services

Increased admissions to paediatric wards with a primary mental health diagnosis: Results of a survey of a network of eating disorder paediatricians in England

Rapid systematic review: The impact of social isolation and loneliness on the mental health of children and adolescents in the context of COVID-19

Food insecurity and children's mental health: A prospective birth cohort study

COVID-19 infection in children and adolescents

COVID-19 and eating disorders in young people

Mental health of children and young people in England, 2020: Wave 1 follow up to the 2017 survey: NHS digital

Clinical characteristics of 58 children with a pediatric inflammatory multisystem syndrome temporally associated with SARS-CoV-2

Prevalence and socio-demographic correlates of psychological health problems in Chinese adolescents during the outbreak of COVID-19