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.

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, mult...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Authors: Agorastos A, Thompson T, Solmi M, Cortese S, Estradé A, Radua J, Dragioti E, Vancampfort D, Thygesen LC, Aschauer H, Schlögelhofer M, Aschauer E, Schneeberger A, Huber CG, Hasler G, Conus P, Do Cuénod KQ, von Känel R, Arrondo G, Fusar-Poli P, Gorwood P, Llorca PM, Krebs MO, Scanferla E, Kishimoto T, Rabbani G, Skonieczna-Zydecka K, Brambilla P, Favaro A, Takamiya A, Zoccante L, Colizzi M, Bourgin J, Kaminski K, Moghadasin M, Seedat S, Matthews E, Wells J, Vassilopoulou E, Gadelha A, Su KP, Kwon JS, Kim M, Lee T, Papsuev O, Manková D, Boscutti A, Gerunda C, Saccon D, Righi E, Monaco F, Croatto G, Cereda G, Demurtas J, Brondino N, Veronese N, Enrico P, Politi P, Ciappolino V, Pfennig A, Bechdolf A, Meyer-Lindenberg A, Kahl KG, Domschke K, Bauer M, Koutsouleris N, Winter SM, Borgwardt S, Bitter I, Balazs J, Czobor P, Unoka Z, Mavridis D, Tsamakis K, Bozikas VP, Tunvirachaisakul C, Maes M, Rungnirundorn T, Supasitthumrong T, Haque A, Brunoni AR, Costardi CG, Schuch FB, Polanczyk G, Luiz JM, Fonseca L, Aparicio LV, Valvassori SS, Nordentoft M, Vendsborg P, Hoffmann SH, Sehli J, Sartorius N, Heuss SC, Guinart D, Hamilton J, Kane J, Rubio J, Sand M, Koyanagi A, Solanes A, Andreu-Bernabeu A, Cáceres ASJ, Arango C, Díaz-Caneja CM, Hidalgo-Mazzei D, Vieta E, Gonzalez-Peñas J, Fortea L, Parellada M, Fullana MA, Verdolini N, Andrlíková E, Janku K, Millan MJ, Honciuc M, Moniuszko-Malinowska A, Loniewski I, Samochowiec J, Kiszkiel L, Marlicz M, Sowa P, Marlicz W, Spies G, Stubbs B, Firth J, Sullivan S, Darcin AE, Aksu H, Dilbaz N, Noyan O, Kitazawa M, Kurokawa S, Tazawa Y, Anselmi A, Cracco C, Machado AI, Estrade N, De Leo D, Curtis J, Berk M, Carvalho AF, Ward P, Teasdale S, Rosenbaum S, Marx W, Horodnic AV, Oprea L, Alexinschi O, Ifteni P, Turliuc S, Ciuhodaru T, Bolos A, Matei V, Nieman DH, Sommer I, van Os J, van Amelsvoort T, Sun CF, Guu TW, Jiao C, Zhang J, Fan J, Zou L, Yu X, Chi X, de Timary P, van Winkel R, Ng B, Pena E, Arellano R, Roman R, Sanchez T, Movina L, Morgado P, Brissos S, Aizberg O, Mosina A, Krinitski D, Mugisha J, Sadeghi-Bahmani D, Sheybani F, Sadeghi M, Hadi S, Brand S, Errazuriz A, Crossley N, Ristic DI, López-Jaramillo C, Efthymiou D, Kuttichira P, Kallivayalil RA, Javed A, Afridi MI, James B, Seb-Akahomen OJ, Fiedorowicz J, Daskalakis J, Yatham LN, Yang L, Okasha T, Dahdouh A, Tiihonen J, Shin JI, Lee J, Mhalla A, Gaha L, Brahim T, Altynbekov K, Negay N, Nurmagambetova S, Jamei YA, Weiser M, Correll CU
Format: article
Status:Published version
Publication Date:2026
Country:España
Institution:Fundació Sant Joan de Déu
Repository:r-FSJD. Repositorio Institucional de Producción Científica de la Fundació Sant Joan de Déu
OAI Identifier:oai:fsjd.fundanetsuite.com:p29633
Online Access:https://fsjd.fundanetsuite.com/Publicaciones/ProdCientif/PublicacionFrw.aspx?id=29633
Access Level:Open access
Keyword:COVID-19
Children
Mental health
Pandemic
Psychiatry
Survey
WHO-5
Well-being
Description
Summary: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 (P(c)) (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 P(C) 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?% (?²=145.70, p < 0.001) and for major depression from 0.6?% to 2.2?% (?²=68.64, p < 0.001) intrapandemic. WHO-5 and P(C)-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.

Similar Items