SynthesisEuropean child & adolescent psychiatry2023
The impact of COVID-19 lockdown on child and adolescent mental health: systematic review.
Synthesis in European child & adolescent psychiatry, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 471 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.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
471 citing papers in PubMed, 8 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 1,004 citations in OpenAlex.
- Psychoeducational Challenges of Dyslexic Children During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Systematic Review.Dyslexia (Chichester, England) · 2026Pooled it
- Equity gaps in neglected tropical disease research in Malaysia: a systematic review, 2014-2024.BMC public health · 2026Pooled it
- Prevalence of children's mental health disorders and implications in pharmacotherapy: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Postgraduate medicine · 2025Pooled it
- Research Review: The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the mental health of children and young people with pre-existing mental health and neurodevelopmental conditions - a systematic review and meta-analysis of longitudinal studies.Journal of child psychology and psychiatry, and allied disciplines · 2025Pooled it
- Prevalence of depression among university students in China: a systematic review and meta-analysis.BMC psychology · 2025Pooled it
- Siblings of Persons with Disabilities: A Systematic Integrative Review of the Empirical Literature.Clinical child and family psychology review · 2025Pooled it
- Effect of acceptance and commitment therapy for adolescent depression: a meta-analysis.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2025Pooled it
- Interventions to build resilience and to ameliorate negative psychosocial effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on children and adolescents: a systematic review and meta-analysis.European child & adolescent psychiatry · 2024Pooled it
- Ensuring participant safety in research studies evaluating digital mental health interventions delivered remotely - insights from the PIPA trial of an online parenting intervention to prevent affective disorders in high-risk adolescents.BMC medical research methodology · 2026Trial
- Agomelatine in pediatric patients with moderate to severe major depressive disorder: an open-label extension study.European child & adolescent psychiatry · 2025Trial
- Care Competencies Training Enhances Adolescents' Well-being: A Randomized Controlled Trial.Psychosocial intervention · 2024Trial
- Health-related quality of life, mental health and caregiver burden in children with autosomal recessive polycystic kidney disease.Pediatric nephrology (Berlin, Germany) · 2026Article
- The first Turks and Caicos Islands global school health survey: Brief findings, challenges, lessons learned, and next steps.Global epidemiology · 2026Article
- What Moves Parents to Recommend Digital Mental Health Tools for Youth? Behavioral Insights and Implications.Journal of community psychology · 2026Article
- Small Group Instruction Can Improve Adolescent Mental Health and Peer Relations: Findings From A Technology-Assisted Cooperative Learning Intervention.Psychology in the schools · 2026Article
- 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
- Child health-related behaviors, social connectedness, and impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on children born preterm in the ECHO Cohort.BMC pediatrics · 2026Article
- Factors associated with the nonperception of the need for care among parents of children who exhibit elevated scores on the strengths and difficulties questionnaire.European child & adolescent psychiatry · 2026Article
- Suicidal behaviour and resilience-related factors among adolescents in Poland and war-affected Western Ukraine.Child and adolescent psychiatry and mental health · 2026Article
- COVID-19-related role disruption and alcohol use disorder risk among adults in South Korea.Scientific reports · 2026Article
411 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors at 4 institutions in 4 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
COVID-19 was declared a pandemic in March 2020, resulting in many countries worldwide calling for lockdowns. This study aimed to review the existing literature on the effects of the lockdown measures established as a response to the COVID-19 pandemic on the mental health of children and adolescents. Embase, Ovid, Global Health, PsycINFO, Web of Science, and pre-print databases were searched in this PRISMA-compliant systematic review (PROSPERO: CRD42021225604). We included individual studies reporting on a wide range of mental health outcomes, including risk and protective factors, conducted in children and adolescents (aged ≤ 19 years), exposed to COVID-19 lockdown. Data extraction and quality appraisal were conducted by independent researchers, and results were synthesised by core themes. 61 articles with 54,999 children and adolescents were included (mean age = 11.3 years, 49.7% female). Anxiety symptoms and depression symptoms were common in the included studies and ranged 1.8-49.5% and 2.2-63.8%, respectively. Irritability (range = 16.7-73.2%) and anger (range = 30.0-51.3%), were also frequently reported by children and adolescents. Special needs and the presence of mental disorders before the lockdown, alongside excessive media exposure, were significant risk factors for anxiety. Parent-child communication was protective for anxiety and depression. The COVID-19 lockdown has resulted in psychological distress and highlighted vulnerable groups such as those with previous or current mental health difficulties. Supporting the mental health needs of children and adolescents at risk is key. Clinical guidelines to alleviate the negative effects of COVID-19 lockdown and public health strategies to support this population need to be developed.
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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.