SynthesisJournal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry2020
Rapid Systematic Review: The Impact of Social Isolation and Loneliness on the Mental Health of Children and Adolescents in the Context of COVID-19.
Synthesis in Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to 3 registered trials, which are not on this map. Cited by 1,178 papers, 8 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
A Study Protocol on Peer Digital Acceset (PDA): A Randomized Controlled Trial to Translate Online Peer Support for Youth Mental Well-being
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Implementing Digital Peer Support Training for Adolescent Mental Health: Study Protocol For A Type III Hybrid Randomized Controlled Trial
Who cites it
1,178 citing papers in PubMed, 8 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 2,869 citations in OpenAlex.
- Community and societal influences on loneliness and social isolation among young adults: a systematic review of observational studies.Epidemiologic reviews · 2026Pooled it
- Exploring Loneliness in Clinical and Sub-Clinical Eating Disorders: A Systematic Review.European eating disorders review : the journal of the Eating Disorders Association · 2026Pooled it
- Mental health problems among ethnic minorities during public crises: a systematic review of coping strategies during the COVID-19 pandemic.Frontiers in public health · 2026Pooled it
- Prevalence and risk factors of suicidal ideation and suicide attempts among young people in the MENAT region: a systematic review and meta-analysis.BMC psychiatry · 2025Pooled it
- Exploring the psychological impact on children and adolescents during the initial period of the COVID-19 pandemic-a systematic review.BMC psychology · 2025Pooled it
- Game Design, Effectiveness, and Implementation of Serious Games Promoting Aspects of Mental Health Literacy Among Children and Adolescents: Systematic Review.JMIR mental health · 2025Pooled it
- The Cost Effectiveness of Genomic Medicine in Cancer Control: A Systematic Literature Review.Applied health economics and health policy · 2025Pooled it
- The effect of the COVID-19 pandemic and school closures on self-harming and suicidal behaviors in adolescents: A comprehensive meta-analysis.Suicide & life-threatening behavior · 2025Pooled it
- Impact of Tailored Interventions on Suicidal Ideation Recovery: Addressing Hopelessness Among Economically Vulnerable Populations During COVID-19 Period.Journal of Korean medical science · 2026Trial
- Preparing for future pandemics: enhancing serotonin activation and interpersonal warmth through music therapy to aid in adolescent depression recovery post-COVID-19: a randomized controlled trial.BMC complementary medicine and therapies · 2026Trial
- The KIND Challenge community intervention to reduce loneliness and social isolation, improve mental health, and neighbourhood relationships: an international randomized controlled trial.Social psychiatry and psychiatric epidemiology · 2025Trial
- Enhancing social functioning using multi-user, immersive virtual reality.Scientific reports · 2025Trial
- Predictive factors for psychotropic medication prescription in child and adolescent psychiatric emergency care: a machine learning approach using a health data warehouse.European child & adolescent psychiatry · 2026Article
- Pre-Pandemic Emotion Regulation and Supportive Relationships as Protective Factors Across Development: Prospective Prediction of Mental Health During the COVID-19 Pandemic.Child psychiatry and human development · 2026Article
- Enhancing Mental Health and Psychosocial Support for Adolescents and Young Adults Through the Asenze Impilo Project: Protocol for a Human-Centered Design Study.JMIR research protocols · 2026Article
- 'This Is Not Life': Psychosocial Experiences of Hungarian Secondary School Students During COVID-19 School Closures: A Retrospective Qualitative Study.Children (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Social emotional learning and autonomic regulation enhance social connectedness in female adolescents with extensive exposure to adverse childhood experiences.Journal of research on adolescence : the official journal of the Society for Research on Adolescence · 2026Article
- A Behavioral Economic Characterization of the Impact of the COVID-19 Quarantine on Reinforcer Diversity, Behavior, and Health.Perspectives on behavior science · 2026Review
- Longitudinal Associations Between Resilience, Emotion Regulation and Mental Health in Adolescents.The Psychiatric quarterly · 2026Article
- Adolescent Suicide During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Bullying Dynamics, Risk Factors, and Prevention Strategies-A Systematic Review.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Review
1,118 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
10 authors at 5 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectiveDisease containment of COVID-19 has necessitated widespread social isolation. We aimed to establish what is known about how loneliness and disease containment measures impact on the mental health in children and adolescents.
methodFor this rapid review, we searched MEDLINE, PsycInfo, and Web of Science for articles published between January 1, 1946, and March 29, 2020. Of the articles, 20% were double screened using predefined criteria, and 20% of data was double extracted for quality assurance.
resultsA total of 83 articles (80 studies) met inclusion criteria. Of these, 63 studies reported on the impact of social isolation and loneliness on the mental health of previously healthy children and adolescents (n = 51,576; mean age 15.3 years). In all, 61 studies were observational, 18 were longitudinal, and 43 were cross-sectional studies assessing self-reported loneliness in healthy children and adolescents. One of these studies was a retrospective investigation after a pandemic. Two studies evaluated interventions. Studies had a high risk of bias, although longitudinal studies were of better methodological quality. Social isolation and loneliness increased the risk of depression, and possibly anxiety at the time at which loneliness was measured and between 0.25 and 9 years later. Duration of loneliness was more strongly correlated with mental health symptoms than intensity of loneliness.
conclusionChildren and adolescents are probably more likely to experience high rates of depression and most likely anxiety during and after enforced isolation ends. This may increase as enforced isolation continues. Clinical services should offer preventive support and early intervention where possible and be prepared for an increase in mental health problems.
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.