The Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on Children's Mental Health: What We Know So Far [childmind.org]

By Kelsey Osgood, Hannah Sheldon-Dean, and Harry Kimball, Child Mind Institute, October 2021

Even before the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, mental health professionals were struggling to meet the needs of the 1 in 5 children and adolescents with a mental health or learning disorder. Then the pandemic hit, bringing an upsurge in youth reporting mental health challenges.

In this report, we examine the growing body of research on the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on children’s mental health, including the results of a survey of thousands of parents conducted by the Child Mind Institute. We explore several key questions, including:

• What do we know about how the pandemic has affected young people’s mental health?
• What are some of the most common mental health challenges that children and adolescents have experienced?
• What are the major risk factors for experiencing mental health challenges during the pandemic?
• What do we know about the potential long-term mental health effects of the pandemic?
• How can we reduce the mental health impacts of the next global public health crisis — and the remainder of this one?

[Please click here to read the report.]