American children are reporting a growing number of mental health issues, and while the pandemic has certainly exacerbated the problems, the numbers were already on the rise in the years before Covid took over the world in 2020.
Researchers at the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) found that nearly ten percent of American children aged 17 and under report symptoms of anxiety, and just under five percent report symptoms of depression.
About eight percent of children also reported behavior or behavior problems in 2020.
While the numbers did rise in 2020, the final year of the study period, the numbers were steadily rising even before the pandemic hit.
Levels of anxiety and depression among children have risen during the COVID-19 pandemic, but the numbers have already been rising steadily since 2016, an HHS study shows. Nearly 10% of children suffer from anxiety and 4% from depression.
The pandemic has had a widely publicized negative impact on children’s mental health, and some experts believe a stronger family role can help mitigate these issues (file photo)
It signals that America’s youth mental health crisis may be deeper than expected, and there are more underlying causes than just school closures and disruption to daily life caused by the pandemic.
“In terms of pre-pandemic trends, between 2016 and 2019 there was a significant increase in the number of diagnosed mental illnesses, in particular, a 27 percent increase in anxiety and a 24 percent increase in depression,” the researchers write.
HHS, which published its findings Monday in JAMA Pediatrics, compiled data from the National Children’s Health Survey, an annual federally funded study conducted nationwide.
From 2016 to 2020, nearly 175,000 children were collected. The children and their parents were asked if they had recently experienced symptoms of certain psychiatric disorders, along with questions about daily activities and whether they had regular dental and medical check-ups.
During the first year of the study in 2016, about seven percent of children suffered from anxiety, about the same as the number of children with behavioral problems.
About three percent reported suffering from depression.
The numbers have risen steadily from 2016 to 2020, and there has been no significant increase in anxiety or depression that is different from previous years.
In 2020, more children read daily compared to previous years, while fewer children engaged in daily physical activity.
The number of children who attended regular visits to the doctor or dentist in 2020 dropped sharply as regular health care was disrupted in 2020.
However, the researchers believe the pandemic may have exacerbated the numbers more than their numbers suggest.
“While the year-over-year increase was not statistically significant in this analysis, other data sources based on electronic health records and surveillance programs indicated that the pandemic exacerbated these trends,” the researchers wrote.
They also found that among children aged five and younger, daily reading levels increased during the pandemic. In 2020, the number of children aged six to 17 decreased.
Both changes are likely due to more children spending more time at home and indoors during the first year of Covid.
The number of children regularly seeing doctors and visiting the dentist during the pandemic has also declined, another sign of Covid-induced disruption of daily life.
Dr. Paul Wise and Dr. Lisa Chamberlain of Stanford University wrote a joint point of view for JAMA, pointing out the disruption to daily life due to this recent increase in mental health issues.
“The destructive power of the pandemic has reverberated through the social determinants of children’s health,” they write.
“Just months after the first cases were detected in the United States, the unemployment rate has reached levels not seen since the Great Depression, with most of the job losses concentrated in low-wage industries.
“Two thirds of kindergartens closed by April 2020 and one third by April 2021.”
They say the family is key to making sure children don’t suffer the worst mental effects of the pandemic.
“While the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has been profound, families and communities have not been passive in addressing this challenge,” they wrote.
“Families have always served as a buffer between social threats and childhood, and the pandemic has been met by families in the US with remarkable creativity and resilience.”