ArticleJournal of affective disorders2021
Socioeconomic inequality in child mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic: First evidence from China.
Article in Journal of affective disorders, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 55 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
55 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Ethnic and socioeconomic inequalities in the mental health of children and young people with pre-existing mental health and neurodevelopmental conditions during the COVID-19 pandemic: a systematic review of longitudinal studies.European child & adolescent psychiatry · 2026Pooled it
- The Parallel Pandemic: A Systematic Review on the Effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic on OCD among Children and Adolescents.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2023Pooled it
- Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on children's mental health: A systematic review.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2022Pooled it
- Socioeconomic status and perception of well-being and mental health support: a three-year COVID-19 study in children with psychopathology and their parents.Pediatric research · 2026Article
- Socioeconomic status and perception of well-being and mental health support: a three-year COVID-19 study in children with psychopathology and their parents.Pediatric research · 2026Article
- Body mass index (BMI) versus socioeconomic factors and physical activity in early childhood.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- Suicide attempts among Korean adolescents before, during and after the COVID-19 pandemic: a cross-sectional study.BMJ open · 2026Article
- Making pediatric sleep health a priority: from scientific research to clinical practice.World journal of pediatrics : WJP · 2025Article
- Parents' Childhood Invalidating Families and Children's Mental Health.Child psychiatry and human development · 2025Article
- Assuring Primary Healthcare Services to Vulnerable Children in a Disadvantaged Suburb of Rome Metropolitan City During the Pandemic: Responses to the Crisis.Children (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Mental health of couples affects fertility, modified by socioeconomic status: a couple-based analysis.Human reproduction open · 2025Article
- Socioeconomic inequalities in psychosocial well-being among adolescents under the COVID-19 pandemic: a cross-regional comparative analysis in Hong Kong, mainland China, and the Netherlands.Social psychiatry and psychiatric epidemiology · 2024Article
- Factors associated with anxiety-related symptoms in children and adolescents during COVID-19 in Oman: a cross-sectional study.Scientific reports · 2024Article
- Association between Family Functioning, Child Emotional and Behavioral Problems, and Parental Stress during the COVID-19 Pandemic in Thailand.Behavioral sciences (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Article
- Association of child-specific and household material deprivation with depression among elementary and middle school students in Japan.Social psychiatry and psychiatric epidemiology · 2024Article
- Factors associated with mental health of young children during the COVID-19 pandemic in the Netherlands.Child and adolescent psychiatry and mental health · 2023Article
- Intelligence-Dependent Differential Effects of Media Exposure on Executive Function Changes in Children: A Population-Based Cohort Study With a Longitudinal Design.Journal of Korean medical science · 2023Article
- Inequalities in children's mental health before and during the COVID-19 pandemic: findings from the UK Household Longitudinal Study.Journal of epidemiology and community health · 2023Article
- Children's Sleep and Mental Health During the COVID-19 Pandemic.Current psychiatry reports · 2023Review
- Qualitative study of the association between psychosocial health and physical activity/sleep quality in toddlers.Scientific reports · 2023Article
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7 authors.
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Abstract
backgroundThere are increasing concerns that the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic will disproportionately affect socioeconomically disadvantaged children. However, there lacks empirical evidence on socioeconomic inequalities in child mental health and associated factors.
methodsWe conducted a population-based online survey in 21,526 children in China, when children were confined at home for nearly two months during the pandemic. We assessed child mental health problems with the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ). Parental education level and provincial gross domestic product (GDP) per capita were treated as proxies for individual- and population-level socioeconomic status (SES), respectively. Lifestyle and family environment factors included sleep disturbances, physical activity, screen time, primary caregiver, parental mental health, and harsh parenting.
resultsOf the children, 32.31% demonstrated mental health problems. Parental education from the highest (undergraduate and above) to the lowest (middle school and below) increased the adjusted odds ratio(aOR) for child mental health problems by 42% (aOR, 1.42; 95% CI, 1.29-1.57); provincial GDP per capita (RMB) from the highest (>¥100K) to the lowest (≤¥70K) increased aOR by 41% (aOR, 1.41; 95% CI%, 1.28-1.55). Sleep disturbances, physical activity <1 h/day, media exposure ≥2 h/day, non-parental care, poor parental mental health, and harsh parenting were independently associated with increased child mental health problems, regardless of SES. LIMITATIONS: The potential sampling bias, subjective measures, and the cross-sectional design are the main limitations.
conclusionThe first evidence from China suggests socioeconomic inequality in child mental health during the pandemic. As unhealthy lifestyle and unfavorable family environment are contributory factors, prioritized interventions are needed to reduce socioeconomic inequality in child mental health problems.
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