Differing impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on youth mental health: combined population and clinical study

Lu Qi; Zuo Zhang; Lauren Robinson; Marina Bobou; Chantal Gourlan; Jeanne Winterer; Rebecca Adams; Kofoworola Agunbiade; Yuning Zhang; Sinead King; Nilakshi Vaidya; Eric Artiges; Tobias Banaschewski; Arun Bokde; M. Broulidakis; Rüdiger Brühl; Herta Flor; Juliane Fröhner; Hugh Garavan; Antoine Grigis; Andreas Heinz; Sarah Hohmann; Marie-Laure  Martinot; Sabina Millenet; Frauke  Nees; Betteke Noort; Dimitri Orfanos; Luise Poustka; Julia Sinclair; Michael Smolka; Robert Whelan; Argyris Stringaris; Henrik Walter; Gunter Schumann; Ulrike Schmidt; Sylvane Desrivieres

doi:10.1192/bjo.2023.601

Differing impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on youth mental health: combined population and clinical study

Lu Qi, Zuo Zhang, Lauren Robinson, Marina Bobou, Chantal Gourlan, Jeanne Winterer, Rebecca Adams, Kofoworola Agunbiade, Yuning Zhang, Sinead King, Nilakshi Vaidya, Eric Artiges, Tobias Banaschewski, Arun Bokde, M. Broulidakis, Rüdiger Brühl, Herta Flor, Juliane Fröhner, Hugh Garavan, Antoine GrigisAndreas Heinz, Sarah Hohmann, Marie-Laure Martinot, Sabina Millenet, Frauke Nees, Betteke Noort, Dimitri Orfanos, Luise Poustka, Julia Sinclair, Michael Smolka, Robert Whelan, Argyris Stringaris, Henrik Walter, Gunter Schumann, Ulrike Schmidt, Sylvane Desrivieres

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

2 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Background: Identifying youths most at risk to COVID-19-related mental illness is essential for the development of effective targeted interventions.

Aims: To compare trajectories of mental health throughout the pandemic in youth with and without prior mental illness and identify those most at risk of COVID-19-related mental illness.

Method: Data were collected from individuals aged 18-26 years (N = 669) from two existing cohorts: IMAGEN, a population-based cohort; and ESTRA/STRATIFY, clinical cohorts of individuals with pre-existing diagnoses of mental disorders. Repeated COVID-19 surveys and standardised mental health assessments were used to compare trajectories of mental health symptoms from before the pandemic through to the second lockdown.

Results: Mental health trajectories differed significantly between cohorts. In the population cohort, depression and eating disorder symptoms increased by 33.9% (95% CI 31.78-36.57) and 15.6% (95% CI 15.39-15.68) during the pandemic, respectively. By contrast, these remained high over time in the clinical cohort. Conversely, trajectories of alcohol misuse were similar in both cohorts, decreasing continuously (a 15.2% decrease) during the pandemic. Pre-pandemic symptom severity predicted the observed mental health trajectories in the population cohort. Surprisingly, being relatively healthy predicted increases in depression and eating disorder symptoms and in body mass index. By contrast, those initially at higher risk for depression or eating disorders reported a lasting decrease.

Conclusions: Healthier young people may be at greater risk of developing depressive or eating disorder symptoms during the COVID-19 pandemic. Targeted mental health interventions considering prior diagnostic risk may be warranted to help young people cope with the challenges of psychosocial stress and reduce the associated healthcare burden.

Original language	English
Article number	e217
Journal	BJPsych Open
Volume	9
Issue number	6
Early online date	20 Nov 2023
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1192/bjo.2023.601
Publication status	Published - 20 Nov 2023

Keywords

COVID – 19
Adolescent
Alcohol use disorder
Depression
Eating disorder

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

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10.1192/bjo.2023.601Licence: CC BY

https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/bjpsych-open/article/differing-impact-of-the-covid19-pandemic-on-youth-mental-health-combined-population-and-clinical-study/939EDB00D962E84F86DC362C16B82A14

Cite this

Qi, L., Zhang, Z., Robinson, L., Bobou, M., Gourlan, C., Winterer, J., Adams, R., Agunbiade, K., Zhang, Y., King, S., Vaidya, N., Artiges, E., Banaschewski, T., Bokde, A., Broulidakis, M., Brühl, R., Flor, H., Fröhner, J., Garavan, H., ... Desrivieres, S. (2023). Differing impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on youth mental health: combined population and clinical study. BJPsych Open, 9(6), Article e217. https://doi.org/10.1192/bjo.2023.601

@article{3a6b8c7940db4a34b2f608f87e0a4765,

title = "Differing impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on youth mental health: combined population and clinical study",

abstract = "Background: Identifying youths most at risk to COVID-19-related mental illness is essential for the development of effective targeted interventions.Aims: To compare trajectories of mental health throughout the pandemic in youth with and without prior mental illness and identify those most at risk of COVID-19-related mental illness.Method: Data were collected from individuals aged 18-26 years (N = 669) from two existing cohorts: IMAGEN, a population-based cohort; and ESTRA/STRATIFY, clinical cohorts of individuals with pre-existing diagnoses of mental disorders. Repeated COVID-19 surveys and standardised mental health assessments were used to compare trajectories of mental health symptoms from before the pandemic through to the second lockdown.Results: Mental health trajectories differed significantly between cohorts. In the population cohort, depression and eating disorder symptoms increased by 33.9% (95% CI 31.78-36.57) and 15.6% (95% CI 15.39-15.68) during the pandemic, respectively. By contrast, these remained high over time in the clinical cohort. Conversely, trajectories of alcohol misuse were similar in both cohorts, decreasing continuously (a 15.2% decrease) during the pandemic. Pre-pandemic symptom severity predicted the observed mental health trajectories in the population cohort. Surprisingly, being relatively healthy predicted increases in depression and eating disorder symptoms and in body mass index. By contrast, those initially at higher risk for depression or eating disorders reported a lasting decrease.Conclusions: Healthier young people may be at greater risk of developing depressive or eating disorder symptoms during the COVID-19 pandemic. Targeted mental health interventions considering prior diagnostic risk may be warranted to help young people cope with the challenges of psychosocial stress and reduce the associated healthcare burden.",

keywords = "COVID – 19, Adolescent, Alcohol use disorder, Depression, Eating disorder",

author = "Lu Qi and Zuo Zhang and Lauren Robinson and Marina Bobou and Chantal Gourlan and Jeanne Winterer and Rebecca Adams and Kofoworola Agunbiade and Yuning Zhang and Sinead King and Nilakshi Vaidya and Eric Artiges and Tobias Banaschewski and Arun Bokde and M. Broulidakis and R{\"u}diger Br{\"u}hl and Herta Flor and Juliane Fr{\"o}hner and Hugh Garavan and Antoine Grigis and Andreas Heinz and Sarah Hohmann and Marie-Laure Martinot and Sabina Millenet and Frauke Nees and Betteke Noort and Dimitri Orfanos and Luise Poustka and Julia Sinclair and Michael Smolka and Robert Whelan and Argyris Stringaris and Henrik Walter and Gunter Schumann and Ulrike Schmidt and Sylvane Desrivieres",

note = "Funding Information: This work received support from the following sources: the Medical Research Council and Medical Research Foundation ({\textquoteleft}ESTRA{\textquoteright} – Neurobiological underpinning of eating disorders: integrative biopsychosocial longitudinal analyses in adolescents: grant MR/R00465X/; {\textquoteleft}ESTRA{\textquoteright} – Establishing causal relationships between biopsychosocial predictors and correlates of eating disorders and their mediation by neural pathways: grants MR/S020306/1), the European Union-funded FP6 Integrated Project IMAGEN (LSHM-CT-2007-037286), the Horizon 2020 funded ERC Advanced Grant {\textquoteleft}STRATIFY{\textquoteright} (Brain network based stratification of reinforcement-related disorders) (695313), the Medical Research Council (grant MR/W002418/1: {\textquoteleft}Eating Disorders: Delineating illness and recovery trajectories to inform personalized prevention and early intervention in young people (EDIFY){\textquoteright} and the National Institute for Health and Care Research Maudsley Biomedical Research Centre. This work was co-funded by UK Research and Innovation under the UK Government's Horizon Europe funding guarantee (10041392 and 10038599) as part of Horizon Europe HORIZON-HLTH-2021-STAYHLTH-01 under European Union grant agreement number 101057429 (environMENTAL). Z.Z. is supported by a fellowship from the Medical Research Foundation (MRF-058-0014-F-ZHAN-C0866). Further support was provided by grants from: the National Institutes of Health (NIH) (consortium grant 5U54EB020403-05-{\textquoteleft}ENIGMA{\textquoteright}) and National Institute on Aging 1R56AG058854-02-{\textquoteleft}ENIGMA World Aging Center{\textquoteright}), the Human Brain Project (HBP SGA 2, 785907, and HBP SGA 3, 945539), the Medical Research Council grant {\textquoteleft}c-VEDA{\textquoteright} (Consortium on Vulnerability to Externalizing Disorders and Addictions) (MR/N000390/1), the NIH (R01DA049238, A decentralized macro and micro gene-by-environment interaction analysis of substance use behavior and its brain biomarkers), the Bundesministeriumf{\"u}r Bildung und Forschung (BMBF grants 01GS08152; 01EV0711; Forschungsnetz AERIAL 01EE1406A, 01EE1406B; Forschungsnetz IMAC-Mind 01GL1745B), the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG grants SM 80/7-2, SFB 940, TRR 265, NE 1383/14-1), NSFC grant 82150710554, the ANR (ANR-12-SAMA-0004, AAPG2019 – GeBra), the Eranet Neuron (AF12-NEUR0008-01 – WM2NA; and ANR-18-NEUR00002-01 – ADORe), the Fondation de France (00081242), the Fondation pour la Recherche M{\'e}dicale (DPA20140629802), the Mission Interminist{\'e}rielle de Lutte-contre-les-Drogues-et-les-Conduites-Addictives (MILDECA), the Assistance-Publique-H{\^o}pitaux-de-Paris and INSERM (interface grant), Paris Sud University IDEX 2012, the Fondation de l'Avenir (grant AP-RM-17-013), the F{\'e}d{\'e}ration pour la Recherche sur le Cerveau; the NIH, Science Foundation Ireland (16/ERCD/3797) and USA (Axon, Testosterone and Mental Health during Adolescence; RO1 MH085772-01A1). Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2023 Cambridge University Press. All rights reserved.",

year = "2023",

month = nov,

day = "20",

doi = "10.1192/bjo.2023.601",

language = "English",

volume = "9",

journal = "BJPsych Open",

issn = "2056-4724",

publisher = "Cambridge University Press",

number = "6",

}

Qi, L , Zhang, Z , Robinson, L , Bobou, M, Gourlan, C, Winterer, J, Adams, R , Agunbiade, K , Zhang, Y , King, S, Vaidya, N, Artiges, E, Banaschewski, T, Bokde, A, Broulidakis, M, Brühl, R, Flor, H, Fröhner, J, Garavan, H, Grigis, A, Heinz, A, Hohmann, S, Martinot, M-L, Millenet, S, Nees, F, Noort, B, Orfanos, D, Poustka, L, Sinclair, J, Smolka, M, Whelan, R, Stringaris, A, Walter, H, Schumann, G, Schmidt, U & Desrivieres, S 2023, 'Differing impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on youth mental health: combined population and clinical study', BJPsych Open, vol. 9, no. 6, e217. https://doi.org/10.1192/bjo.2023.601

TY - JOUR

T1 - Differing impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on youth mental health

T2 - combined population and clinical study

AU - Qi, Lu

AU - Zhang, Zuo

AU - Robinson, Lauren

AU - Bobou, Marina

AU - Gourlan, Chantal

AU - Winterer, Jeanne

AU - Adams, Rebecca

AU - Agunbiade, Kofoworola

AU - Zhang, Yuning

AU - King, Sinead

AU - Vaidya, Nilakshi

AU - Artiges, Eric

AU - Banaschewski, Tobias

AU - Bokde, Arun

AU - Broulidakis, M.

AU - Brühl, Rüdiger

AU - Flor, Herta

AU - Fröhner, Juliane

AU - Garavan, Hugh

AU - Grigis, Antoine

AU - Heinz, Andreas

AU - Hohmann, Sarah

AU - Martinot, Marie-Laure

AU - Millenet, Sabina

AU - Nees, Frauke

AU - Noort, Betteke

AU - Orfanos, Dimitri

AU - Poustka, Luise

AU - Sinclair, Julia

AU - Smolka, Michael

AU - Whelan, Robert

AU - Stringaris, Argyris

AU - Walter, Henrik

AU - Schumann, Gunter

AU - Schmidt, Ulrike

AU - Desrivieres, Sylvane

N1 - Funding Information: This work received support from the following sources: the Medical Research Council and Medical Research Foundation (‘ESTRA’ – Neurobiological underpinning of eating disorders: integrative biopsychosocial longitudinal analyses in adolescents: grant MR/R00465X/; ‘ESTRA’ – Establishing causal relationships between biopsychosocial predictors and correlates of eating disorders and their mediation by neural pathways: grants MR/S020306/1), the European Union-funded FP6 Integrated Project IMAGEN (LSHM-CT-2007-037286), the Horizon 2020 funded ERC Advanced Grant ‘STRATIFY’ (Brain network based stratification of reinforcement-related disorders) (695313), the Medical Research Council (grant MR/W002418/1: ‘Eating Disorders: Delineating illness and recovery trajectories to inform personalized prevention and early intervention in young people (EDIFY)’ and the National Institute for Health and Care Research Maudsley Biomedical Research Centre. This work was co-funded by UK Research and Innovation under the UK Government's Horizon Europe funding guarantee (10041392 and 10038599) as part of Horizon Europe HORIZON-HLTH-2021-STAYHLTH-01 under European Union grant agreement number 101057429 (environMENTAL). Z.Z. is supported by a fellowship from the Medical Research Foundation (MRF-058-0014-F-ZHAN-C0866). Further support was provided by grants from: the National Institutes of Health (NIH) (consortium grant 5U54EB020403-05-‘ENIGMA’) and National Institute on Aging 1R56AG058854-02-‘ENIGMA World Aging Center’), the Human Brain Project (HBP SGA 2, 785907, and HBP SGA 3, 945539), the Medical Research Council grant ‘c-VEDA’ (Consortium on Vulnerability to Externalizing Disorders and Addictions) (MR/N000390/1), the NIH (R01DA049238, A decentralized macro and micro gene-by-environment interaction analysis of substance use behavior and its brain biomarkers), the Bundesministeriumfür Bildung und Forschung (BMBF grants 01GS08152; 01EV0711; Forschungsnetz AERIAL 01EE1406A, 01EE1406B; Forschungsnetz IMAC-Mind 01GL1745B), the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG grants SM 80/7-2, SFB 940, TRR 265, NE 1383/14-1), NSFC grant 82150710554, the ANR (ANR-12-SAMA-0004, AAPG2019 – GeBra), the Eranet Neuron (AF12-NEUR0008-01 – WM2NA; and ANR-18-NEUR00002-01 – ADORe), the Fondation de France (00081242), the Fondation pour la Recherche Médicale (DPA20140629802), the Mission Interministérielle de Lutte-contre-les-Drogues-et-les-Conduites-Addictives (MILDECA), the Assistance-Publique-Hôpitaux-de-Paris and INSERM (interface grant), Paris Sud University IDEX 2012, the Fondation de l'Avenir (grant AP-RM-17-013), the Fédération pour la Recherche sur le Cerveau; the NIH, Science Foundation Ireland (16/ERCD/3797) and USA (Axon, Testosterone and Mental Health during Adolescence; RO1 MH085772-01A1). Publisher Copyright: © 2023 Cambridge University Press. All rights reserved.

PY - 2023/11/20

Y1 - 2023/11/20

N2 - Background: Identifying youths most at risk to COVID-19-related mental illness is essential for the development of effective targeted interventions.Aims: To compare trajectories of mental health throughout the pandemic in youth with and without prior mental illness and identify those most at risk of COVID-19-related mental illness.Method: Data were collected from individuals aged 18-26 years (N = 669) from two existing cohorts: IMAGEN, a population-based cohort; and ESTRA/STRATIFY, clinical cohorts of individuals with pre-existing diagnoses of mental disorders. Repeated COVID-19 surveys and standardised mental health assessments were used to compare trajectories of mental health symptoms from before the pandemic through to the second lockdown.Results: Mental health trajectories differed significantly between cohorts. In the population cohort, depression and eating disorder symptoms increased by 33.9% (95% CI 31.78-36.57) and 15.6% (95% CI 15.39-15.68) during the pandemic, respectively. By contrast, these remained high over time in the clinical cohort. Conversely, trajectories of alcohol misuse were similar in both cohorts, decreasing continuously (a 15.2% decrease) during the pandemic. Pre-pandemic symptom severity predicted the observed mental health trajectories in the population cohort. Surprisingly, being relatively healthy predicted increases in depression and eating disorder symptoms and in body mass index. By contrast, those initially at higher risk for depression or eating disorders reported a lasting decrease.Conclusions: Healthier young people may be at greater risk of developing depressive or eating disorder symptoms during the COVID-19 pandemic. Targeted mental health interventions considering prior diagnostic risk may be warranted to help young people cope with the challenges of psychosocial stress and reduce the associated healthcare burden.

AB - Background: Identifying youths most at risk to COVID-19-related mental illness is essential for the development of effective targeted interventions.Aims: To compare trajectories of mental health throughout the pandemic in youth with and without prior mental illness and identify those most at risk of COVID-19-related mental illness.Method: Data were collected from individuals aged 18-26 years (N = 669) from two existing cohorts: IMAGEN, a population-based cohort; and ESTRA/STRATIFY, clinical cohorts of individuals with pre-existing diagnoses of mental disorders. Repeated COVID-19 surveys and standardised mental health assessments were used to compare trajectories of mental health symptoms from before the pandemic through to the second lockdown.Results: Mental health trajectories differed significantly between cohorts. In the population cohort, depression and eating disorder symptoms increased by 33.9% (95% CI 31.78-36.57) and 15.6% (95% CI 15.39-15.68) during the pandemic, respectively. By contrast, these remained high over time in the clinical cohort. Conversely, trajectories of alcohol misuse were similar in both cohorts, decreasing continuously (a 15.2% decrease) during the pandemic. Pre-pandemic symptom severity predicted the observed mental health trajectories in the population cohort. Surprisingly, being relatively healthy predicted increases in depression and eating disorder symptoms and in body mass index. By contrast, those initially at higher risk for depression or eating disorders reported a lasting decrease.Conclusions: Healthier young people may be at greater risk of developing depressive or eating disorder symptoms during the COVID-19 pandemic. Targeted mental health interventions considering prior diagnostic risk may be warranted to help young people cope with the challenges of psychosocial stress and reduce the associated healthcare burden.

KW - COVID – 19

KW - Adolescent

KW - Alcohol use disorder

KW - Depression

KW - Eating disorder

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85181240228&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1192/bjo.2023.601

DO - 10.1192/bjo.2023.601

M3 - Article

SN - 2056-4724

VL - 9

JO - BJPsych Open

JF - BJPsych Open

IS - 6

M1 - e217

ER -

Differing impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on youth mental health: combined population and clinical study

Abstract

Keywords

UN SDGs

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