: Few multinational studies have assessed risk factors and coping strategies associated with the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on children's mental health over time. The Collaborative Outcomes study on Health and Functioning during Infection Times (COH-FIT) is the largest transcontinental, multi-wave, cross-sectional survey collecting multi-nation data on well-being and psychopathology during the pandemic. We analyzed country-specific, general-population-based, representative COH-FIT data of 6067 children aged 6-13 years from 12 countries across repeated cross-sectional waves over a period of >2 years (Apr/2020-May/2022), addressing through current and retrospective assessment pre- to intra-pandemic changes in well-being (WHO-5) and general psychopathology scores (Pc) (0-100) in relation to COVID-related deaths, stringency index, eight a priori risk factors, and 16 coping strategies in different responders at each wave. From pre- to intra-pandemic, WHO-5 scores decreased (-4.59, 95 %CI=-6.18 to -2.99, p < 0.001), while PC-scores increased (+6.68, 95 %CI=4.48-8.88, p < 0.001) significantly, following distinct time patterns but both returning to near pre-pandemic levels. Changes in both scores varied by country. WHO-5 scores correlated strongly with PC and subdomain scores. Both score changes were significantly but minimally associated to COVID-19 deaths/stringency index. The proportion of children screening positive for depression increased from 3.9 % to 8.3 % (χ²=145.70, p < 0.001) and for major depression from 0.6 % to 2.2 % (χ²=68.64, p < 0.001) intrapandemic. WHO-5 and PC-score changes were significantly associated with female gender, school closure, and pre-existing physical and mental conditions, with cumulative effects. The five most frequently endorsed coping strategies were family contact (85.2 %), friends (67.3 %), outdoor play (54.0 %), pet interaction (51.5 %), and internet use (50.9 %). Identified risk groups and coping strategies can inform targeted interventions and global public health policy. Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov; Identifier: NCT04383470.
Mental health, coping and related risk factors during the first 2 years of the COVID-19 pandemic in children: Nationally representative, multi-wave, cross-sectional results from 12 countries from the global COH-FIT study / Agorastos, Agorastos; Thompson, Trevor; Solmi, Marco; Cortese, Samuele; Estradé, Andrés; Radua, Joaquim; Dragioti, Elena; Vancampfort, Davy; Thygesen, Lau Caspar; Aschauer, Harald; Schlögelhofer, Monika; Aschauer, Elena; Schneeberger, Andres; Huber, Christian G.; Hasler, Gregor; Conus, Philippe; Do Cuénod, Kim Q.; Von Känel, Roland; Arrondo, Gonzalo; Fusar-Poli, Paolo; Gorwood, Philip; Llorca, Pierre-Michel; Krebs, Marie-Odile; Scanferla, Elisabetta; Kishimoto, Taishiro; Rabbani, Golam; Skonieczna-Żydecka, Karolina; Brambilla, Paolo; Favaro, Angela; Takamiya, Akihiro; Zoccante, Leonardo; Colizzi, Marco; Bourgin, Julie; Kamiński, Karol; Moghadasin, Maryam; Seedat, Soraya; Matthews, Evan; Wells, John; Vassilopoulou, Emilia; Gadelha, Ary; Su, Kuan-Pin; Kwon, Jun Soo; Kim, Minah; Lee, Taeyoung; Papsuev, Oleg; Manková, Denisa; Boscutti, Andrea; Gerunda, Cristiano; Saccon, Diego; Righi, Elena; Monaco, Francesco; Croatto, Giovanni; Cereda, Guido; Demurtas, Jacopo; Brondino, Natascia; Veronese, Nicola; Enrico, Paolo; Politi, Pierluigi; Ciappolino, Valentina; Pfennig, Andrea; Bechdolf, Andreas; Meyer-Lindenberg, Andreas; Kahl, Kai G.; Domschke, Katharina; Bauer, Michael; Koutsouleris, Nikolaos; Winter, Sibylle M.; Borgwardt, Stefan; Bitter, Istvan; Balazs, Judit; Czobor, Pál; Unoka, Zsolt; Mavridis, Dimitris; Tsamakis, Konstantinos; Bozikas, Vasilios P.; Tunvirachaisakul, Chavit; Maes, Michael; Rungnirundorn, Teerayuth; Supasitthumrong, Thitiporn; Haque, Ariful; Brunoni, Andre R.; Costardi, Carlos Gustavo; Schuch, Felipe Barreto; Polanczyk, Guilherme; Luiz, Jhoanne Merlyn; Fonseca, Lais; Aparicio, Luana V.; Valvassori, Samira S.; Nordentoft, Merete; Vendsborg, Per; Hoffmann, Sofie Have; Sehli, Jihed; Sartorius, Norman; Heuss, Sabina C.; Guinart, Daniel; Hamilton, Jane; Kane, John; Rubio, Jose; Sand, Michael; Koyanagi, Ai; Solanes, Aleix; Andreu-Bernabeu, Alvaro; Cáceres, Antonia San José; Arango, Celso; Díaz-Caneja, Covadonga M.; Hidalgo-Mazzei, Diego; Vieta, Eduard; Gonzalez-Peñas, Javier; Fortea, Lydia; Parellada, Mara; Fullana, Miquel A.; Verdolini, Norma; Andrlíková, Eva; Janků, Karolina; Millan, Mark J.; Honciuc, Mihaela; Moniuszko-Malinowska, Anna; Łoniewski, Igor; Samochowiec, Jerzy; Kiszkiel, Łukasz; Marlicz, Maria; Sowa, Paweł; Marlicz, Wojciech; Spies, Georgina; Stubbs, Brendon; Firth, Joseph; Sullivan, Sarah; Darcin, Asli Enez; Aksu, Hatice; Dilbaz, Nesrin; Noyan, Onur; Kitazawa, Momoko; Kurokawa, Shunya; Tazawa, Yuki; Anselmi, Alejandro; Cracco, Cecilia; Machado, Ana Inés; Estrade, Natalia; De Leo, Diego; Curtis, Jackie; Berk, Michael; Carvalho, Andre F.; Ward, Philip; Teasdale, Scott; Rosenbaum, Simon; Marx, Wolfgang; Horodnic, Adrian Vasile; Oprea, Liviu; Alexinschi, Ovidiu; Ifteni, Petru; Turliuc, Serban; Ciuhodaru, Tudor; Bolos, Alexandra; Matei, Valentin; Nieman, Dorien H.; Sommer, Iris; Van Os, Jim; Van Amelsvoort, Therese; Sun, Ching-Fang; Guu, Ta-wei; Jiao, Can; Zhang, Jieting; Fan, Jialin; Zou, Liye; Yu, Xin; Chi, Xinli; De Timary, Philippe; Van Winkel, Ruud; Ng, Bernardo; Pena, Edilberto; Arellano, Ramon; Roman, Raquel; Sanchez, Thelma; Movina, Larisa; Morgado, Pedro; Brissos, Sofia; Aizberg, Oleg; Mosina, Anna; Krinitski, Damir; Mugisha, James; Sadeghi-Bahmani, Dena; Sheybani, Farshad; Sadeghi, Masoud; Hadi, Samira; Brand, Serge; Errazuriz, Antonia; Crossley, Nicolas; Ristic, Dragana Ignjatovic; López-Jaramillo, Carlos; Efthymiou, Dimitris; Kuttichira, Praveenlal; Kallivayalil, Roy Abraham; Javed, Afzal; Afridi, Muhammad Iqbal; James, Bawo; Seb-Akahomen, Omonefe Joy; Fiedorowicz, Jess; Daskalakis, Jeff; Yatham, Lakshmi N.; Yang, Lin; Okasha, Tarek; Dahdouh, Aïcha; Tiihonen, Jari; Shin, Jae Il; Lee, Jinhee; Mhalla, Ahmed; Gaha, Lotfi; Brahim, Takoua; Altynbekov, Kuanysh; Negay, Nikolay; Nurmagambetova, Saltanat; Jamei, Yasser Abu; Weiser, Mark; Correll, Christoph U. - In: EUROPEAN NEUROPSYCHOPHARMACOLOGY. - ISSN 0924-977X. - 104:(2025), pp. 1-13. [10.1016/j.euroneuro.2025.112741]
Mental health, coping and related risk factors during the first 2 years of the COVID-19 pandemic in children: Nationally representative, multi-wave, cross-sectional results from 12 countries from the global COH-FIT study
Righi, Elena;
2025
Abstract
: Few multinational studies have assessed risk factors and coping strategies associated with the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on children's mental health over time. The Collaborative Outcomes study on Health and Functioning during Infection Times (COH-FIT) is the largest transcontinental, multi-wave, cross-sectional survey collecting multi-nation data on well-being and psychopathology during the pandemic. We analyzed country-specific, general-population-based, representative COH-FIT data of 6067 children aged 6-13 years from 12 countries across repeated cross-sectional waves over a period of >2 years (Apr/2020-May/2022), addressing through current and retrospective assessment pre- to intra-pandemic changes in well-being (WHO-5) and general psychopathology scores (Pc) (0-100) in relation to COVID-related deaths, stringency index, eight a priori risk factors, and 16 coping strategies in different responders at each wave. From pre- to intra-pandemic, WHO-5 scores decreased (-4.59, 95 %CI=-6.18 to -2.99, p < 0.001), while PC-scores increased (+6.68, 95 %CI=4.48-8.88, p < 0.001) significantly, following distinct time patterns but both returning to near pre-pandemic levels. Changes in both scores varied by country. WHO-5 scores correlated strongly with PC and subdomain scores. Both score changes were significantly but minimally associated to COVID-19 deaths/stringency index. The proportion of children screening positive for depression increased from 3.9 % to 8.3 % (χ²=145.70, p < 0.001) and for major depression from 0.6 % to 2.2 % (χ²=68.64, p < 0.001) intrapandemic. WHO-5 and PC-score changes were significantly associated with female gender, school closure, and pre-existing physical and mental conditions, with cumulative effects. The five most frequently endorsed coping strategies were family contact (85.2 %), friends (67.3 %), outdoor play (54.0 %), pet interaction (51.5 %), and internet use (50.9 %). Identified risk groups and coping strategies can inform targeted interventions and global public health policy. Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov; Identifier: NCT04383470.
| File | Dimensione | Formato | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
1-s2.0-S0924977X25008156-main.pdf
Open access
Descrizione: main
Tipologia:
VOR - Versione pubblicata dall'editore
Dimensione
3.63 MB
Formato
Adobe PDF
|
3.63 MB | Adobe PDF | Visualizza/Apri |
Pubblicazioni consigliate
I metadati presenti in IRIS UNIMORE sono rilasciati con licenza Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal, mentre i file delle pubblicazioni sono rilasciati con licenza Attribuzione 4.0 Internazionale (CC BY 4.0), salvo diversa indicazione.
In caso di violazione di copyright, contattare Supporto Iris
