scholarly journals Preparing for the Impact of COVID-19 on the Mental Health of Youth

2021 ◽  
pp. 1942602X2110526
Author(s):  
Eileen R. O’Shea ◽  
Kathryn E. Phillips ◽  
Kathleen N O’Shea ◽  
Linda N. Roney

The COVID-19 pandemic is continuing to have long-term and global effects that the vaccine may not ease. Children and adolescents endured unprecedented periods of loneliness, social isolation, financial stressors, in-home conflicts, changes in living circumstances, and variable access to healthcare, resulting in increased mental health sequelae. Timely recognition of students’ anxiety, depression, and disruptive behaviors will allow appropriate interventions to de-escalate these feelings and prevent suicidal ideations and attempts. As youth return to school, their mental health needs will not subside. School nurses and the multidisciplinary team have a vital role in impacting this population’s already surging increase of mental and behavioral health disorders.

BMJ Open ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (6) ◽  
pp. e044463
Author(s):  
Danielle Borg ◽  
Kym Rae ◽  
Corrine Fiveash ◽  
Johanna Schagen ◽  
Janelle James-McAlpine ◽  
...  

IntroductionThe perinatal–postnatal family environment is associated with childhood outcomes including impacts on physical and mental health and educational attainment. Family longitudinal cohort studies collect in-depth data that can capture the influence of an era on family lifestyle, mental health, chronic disease, education and financial stability to enable identification of gaps in society and provide the evidence for changes in government in policy and practice.Methods and analysisThe Queensland Family Cohort (QFC) is a prospective, observational, longitudinal study that will recruit 12 500 pregnant families across the state of Queensland (QLD), Australia and intends to follow-up families and children for three decades. To identify the immediate and future health requirements of the QLD population; pregnant participants and their partners will be enrolled by 24 weeks of gestation and followed up at 24, 28 and 36 weeks of gestation, during delivery, on-ward, 6 weeks postpartum and then every 12 months where questionnaires, biological samples and physical measures will be collected from parents and children. To examine the impact of environmental exposures on families, data related to environmental pollution, household pollution and employment exposures will be linked to pregnancy and health outcomes. Where feasible, data linkage of state and federal government databases will be used to follow the participants long term. Biological samples will be stored long term for future discoveries of biomarkers of health and disease.Ethics and disseminationEthical approval has been obtained from the Mater Research Ethics (HREC/16/MHS/113). Findings will be reported to (1) QFC participating families; (2) funding bodies, institutes and hospitals supporting the QFC; (3) federal, state and local governments to inform policy; (4) presented at local, national and international conferences and (5) disseminated by peer-review publications.


Work ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 1-11
Author(s):  
Yan Xu ◽  
Wantian Cui

BACKGROUND: China’s atmospheric PM2.5 pollution is serious, and PM2.5 exerts a negative impact on the human respiratory system, cardiovascular, and mental health, and even more serious health risk for the elderly with weak immunity. OBJECTIVE: This work aims to analyse the impacts of PM2.5 microenvironment exposure on the health of the elderly and provide corresponding countermeasures. METHODS: The survey subjects are 118 retired elderly people in the community. PM2.5 exposure concentrations are monitored in summer (June 10 ∼ July 10, 2019) and winter (November 25 ∼ December 25, 2019). RESULTS: The exposure concentration in winter is higher than that in summer, with statistical difference (P <  0.05). Under the impact of PM2.5 microenvironment exposure, smoking in the elderly can increase the concentration of PM2.5, and long-term exposure to PM2.5 in the elderly can cause mental health problems. CONCLUSION: Long-term exposure of the elderly to the PM2.5 microenvironment leads to physical diseases and even psychological problems, which requires attention.


2021 ◽  
pp. 105984052199205
Author(s):  
Alicia M. Hoke ◽  
Chelsea M. Keller ◽  
William A. Calo ◽  
Deepa L. Sekhar ◽  
Erik B. Lehman ◽  
...  

Pennsylvania responded to the COVID-19 pandemic by closing schools and moving to online instruction in March 2020. We surveyed Pennsylvania school nurses ( N = 350) in May 2020 to assess the impact of COVID-19 on nurses’ concerns about returning to school and impact on practice. Data were analyzed using χ2 tests and regression analyses. Urban school nurses were more concerned about returning to the school building without a COVID-19 vaccine than rural nurses ( OR = 1.58, 95% CI [1.05, 2.38]). Nurses in urban locales were more likely to report being asked for guidance on COVID-19 ( OR = 1.69, 95% CI [1.06, 2.68]), modify communication practices ( OR = 2.33, 95% CI [1.42, 3.82]), and be “very/extremely concerned” about their safety ( OR = 2.16, 95% CI [1.35, 3.44]). Locale and student density are important factors to consider when resuming in-person instruction; however, schools should recognize school nurses for their vital role in health communication to assist in pandemic preparedness and response.


Author(s):  
Leo Sher

Abstract Parental alienation is defined as a mental state in which a child, usually one whose parents are engaged in a high-conflict separation or divorce, allies himself strongly with one parent (the preferred parent) and rejects a relationship with the other parent (the alienated parent) without legitimate justification. Parental alienation may affect men’s mental health: a) parental alienation negatively influences mental health of male children and adolescents who are victims of parental alienation. Alienated children/adolescents display guilt, sadness, and depressed mood; low self-esteem and lack of self-confidence; distress and frustration; lack of impulse control, substance abuse and delinquent behavior; separation anxiety, fears and phobias; hypochondria and increased tendency to develop psychosomatic illness; suicidal ideation and suicide attempt; sleep and eating disorders; educational problems; enuresis and encopresis; b) parental alienation negatively affects the mental health of adult men who were victims of parental alienation when they were children and/or adolescents. Long-term effects of parental alienation include low self-esteem, depression, drug/alcohol abuse, lack of trust, alienation from own children, divorce, problems with identity and not having a sense of belonging or roots, choosing not to have children to avoid being rejected by them, low achievement, anger and bitterness over the time lost with the alienated parent; c) parental alienation negatively influences mental health of men who are alienated from their children. Fathers who have lost some or all contact with their children for months or years following separation or divorce may be depressed and suicidal.


2022 ◽  
pp. 105984052110681
Author(s):  
Ashwini R. Hoskote ◽  
Emily Croce ◽  
Karen E. Johnson

School nurses are crucial to addressing adolescent mental health, yet evidence concerning their evolving role has not been synthesized to understand interventions across levels of practice (i.e., individual, community, systems). We conducted an integrative review of school nurse roles in mental health in the U.S. related to depressive symptoms, anxiety, and stress. Only 18 articles were identified, published from 1970 to 2019, and primarily described school nurses practicing interventions at the individual level, yet it was unclear whether they were always evidence-based. Although mental health concerns have increased over the years, the dearth of rigorous studies made it difficult to determine the impact of school nurse interventions on student mental health outcomes and school nurses continue to feel unprepared and under supported in this area. More research is needed to establish best practices and systems to support school nursing practice in addressing mental health at all levels of practice.


2020 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Grace Amin

Bullying is deliberate aggressive action, using an imbalance of strength physically or mentally by hurting physical, verbal, or emotional / psychological forms repeatedly. In the last decade, cases of bullying in Indonesia continue to increase and if not handled properly will increasingly have a negative impact on the development of the children of the nation's next generation. Bullying does not only affect children who are bullied but can also affect children who bully, children who witness bullying. Some of the effects of bullying include anxiety, depression, and low self-esteem. The purpose of community engagement is to socialize the impact of bullying and how to increase self-esteem to adolescents. Through psychoeducation programs in adolescents such as schools and teenagers religious communities in the Cikarang - Bekasi region, young people gain an in-depth understanding of bullying, its effects and how to increase their confidence. Through this psychoeducation, teenagers understand the understanding, types and effects of bullying both short term and long term so they promise to resist bullying starting from themselves. Teenagers learn that humans are social beings who need each other. They learn about the meaning of diversity and bhineka tunggal ika and try to implement it in their next lives by respecting the differences in their environment. These teenagers learn to respect themselves more, see the positive things that God has given them. They try to always believe in themselves that they are perfect and valuable beings in God's eyes so that even though the environment around them may not appreciate, they can still see positive things in themselvesABSTRAK:Bullying adalah tindakan agresif yang disengaja, menggunakan ketidakseimbangan kekuatan secara fisik atau mental dengan cara menyakiti bentuk fisik, verbal, atau emosional/ psikologis secara berulang – ulang. Dalam satu decade terakhir, kasus bullying di Indonesia terus meningkat dan bila tidak ditangani dengan baik akan semakin berdampak negative bagi perkembangan anak – anak generasi penerus bangsa. Tindakan bullying tidak hanya berdampak pada anak yang di-bully tetapi juga dapat berdampak pada anak yang mem-bully, anak yang menyaksikan bullying. Beberapa dampak bullying diantaranya kecemasan, depresi, serta rendahnya harga diri (self-esteem). Tujuan dari pengabdian kepada masyarakat ini adalah untuk mensosialisasikan dampak bullying serta cara meningkatkan self-esteem kepada para remaja. Melalui program psikoedukasi di lingkungan remaja seperti sekolah maupun komunitas keagamaan remaja wilayah Cikarang – Bekasi, para remaja mendapatkan pemahaman mendalam mengenai bullying, dampaknya serta bagaimana cara meningkatkan kepercayaan diri mereka. Melalui psikoedukasi ini, para remaja memahami pengertian, jenis serta dampak bullying baik jangka pendek maupun jangka panjang sehingga mereka berjanji untuk bersikap menolak bullying mulai dari diri mereka sendiri. Para remaja belajar bahwa manusia adalah mahluk social yang saling membutuhkan. Mereka belajar tentang makna keberagaman dan Bhineka Tunggal Ika serta berusaha mengimplementasikannya dalam kehidupan mereka selanjutnya dengan cara menghargai perbedaan yang ada di lingkungannya. Remaja ini belajar untuk lebih menghargai diri mereka, melihat hal positif yang telah diberikan Tuhan kepada mereka. Mereka mencoba untuk selalu menanamkan dalam diri bahwa mereka adalah mahluk yang sempurna dan berharga di mata Tuhan sehingga walaupun lingkungan di sekitar mereka mungkin tidak menghargai, mereka tetap dapat melihat hal positif dalam diri mereka.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rochelle Ann Burgess ◽  
Nancy Kanu ◽  
Tanya Matthews ◽  
Owen Mukotekwa ◽  
Amina Smith-Gul ◽  
...  

Within high-income-countries, the COVID-19 pandemic has disproportionately impacted people from racially minoritised backgrounds. There has been significant research interrogating the disparate impact of the virus, and recently, interest in the long-term implications of the global crisis on young people’s mental health and wellbeing. However, less work explores the experiences of young people from racialised backgrounds as they navigate the pandemic, and the specific consequences this has for their mental health. Forty young people (age 16-25) from black, mixed and other minority backgrounds and living in London, participated in consecutive focus group discussions over a two-month period, to explore the impact of the pandemic on their lives and emotional wellbeing. Thematic analysis identified seven categories describing the impact of the pandemic, indicating: deepening of existing socioeconomic and emotional challenges; efforts to navigate racism and difference within the response; and survival strategies drawing on communal and individual resources. Young people also articulated visions for a future public health response which addressed gaps in current strategies. Findings point to the need to contextualize public health responses to the pandemic in line with the lived experiences of racialised young people. We specifically note the importance of long-term culturally and socio-politically relevant support interventions. Implications for policy and practice are discussed


2008 ◽  
Vol 16 (6) ◽  
pp. 638-648 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sue Hacking ◽  
Jenny Secker ◽  
Helen Spandler ◽  
Lyn Kent ◽  
Jo Shenton

2021 ◽  
pp. 1942602X2110594
Author(s):  
Megan Roesler ◽  
Patricia Fato ◽  
Barbara Obst

School-age children are not immune to COVID-19 or the pronounced and persistent symptoms associated with a long-COVID diagnosis. Students may present with a variety of symptoms affecting their physical, cognitive, and mental health. The school community should be educated on the school-based interventions and recommendations for creating an individualized safe and successful return to school plan. As we await approval for vaccinations in school-age children younger than 12 years and continue to reposition ourselves to the waves of this pandemic and new variants of the virus, understanding the medical and educational long-term effects on our students may be a long-term need.


1993 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 81-87 ◽  
Author(s):  
Penelope K. Trickett ◽  
Frank W. Putnam

In the last decade, it has become clear that the sexual abuse of children is much more prevalent than previously realized and that such abuse has extensive mental health sequelae. Females are reported victims of sexual abuse much more often than males. The peak age of onset of sexual abuse for females is prepubertal—7 or 8 years of age—and the average duration fends to be about 2 years. The basic theme of this article is that there may be directly traceable mechanistic relationships between the impact of sexual abuse on specific psychological and biological developmental processes for females and some of the adult outcomes of that abuse. Specifically, it is proposed that, to understand the long-term impact of sexual abuse, it is necessary to investigate how it may interfere with both the psychological and the biological processes of pubertal development.


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