SynthesisJournal of child psychology and psychiatry, and allied disciplines2023
Annual Research Review: The impact of Covid-19 on psychopathology in children and young people worldwide: systematic review of studies with pre- and within-pandemic data.
Synthesis in Journal of child psychology and psychiatry, and allied disciplines, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 50 papers, 5 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
50 citing papers in PubMed, 5 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 95 citations in OpenAlex.
- 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
- Mental health of Canadian youth: A systematic review and meta-analysis of studies examining changes in depression, anxiety, and suicide-related outcomes during the COVID-19 pandemic.Canadian journal of public health = Revue canadienne de sante publique · 2024Pooled it
- Mobile applications in adolescent psychotherapy during the COVID-19 pandemic: a systematic review.Frontiers in public health · 2024Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Mental health and quality of life in children and adolescents during the COVID-19 pandemic: a systematic review of longitudinal studies.Frontiers in public health · 2023Pooled it
- Long-term follow-up of a randomised controlled trial of a brief home-based parenting intervention to reduce behavioural problems in young children.Journal of child psychology and psychiatry, and allied disciplines · 2026Trial
- Young People's Mental Health Changes, Risk, and Resilience During the COVID-19 Pandemic.JAMA network open · 2023Trial
- Prevalence and Sociodemographic Correlates of Mental Health Symptoms Among Canadian Youth: A Cross-Sectional Study.Clinical child psychology and psychiatry · 2026Article
- Trajectories of child emotional and behavioural difficulties before and during the COVID-19 pandemic in a longitudinal UK cohort.JCPP advances · 2026Article
- A Qualitative Investigation of Managers' Experiences and Views of Early Support Hubs for Children and Young People.Administration and policy in mental health · 2026Article
- Harnessing personal and social resources in managing internalising and externalising symptoms in children living in low-resource settings.JCPP advances · 2026Article
- Article
- The extent to which child- and parent-report Revised Children's Anxiety and Depression Scale, short Mood and Feeling Questionnaire, Strength and Difficulty Questionnaire and child-report KIDSCREEN identify the same young people as at risk of mental health conditions.The British journal of psychiatry : the journal of mental science · 2026Article
- Longitudinal Associations Between Anxiety and Depression in Transition From Childhood to Adolescence.Depression and anxiety · 2026Article
- Compassionate mind training as school-based social and emotional learning: extension to younger pupils and effects of programme dosage.Frontiers in psychology · 2026Article
- Balancing demands and resources toward better flourishing and life satisfaction: a two-wave path analysis of school burnout and teens' resilience.Frontiers in psychology · 2026Article
- Exploring the use of single session interventions in child and adolescent mental health services in England: a freedom of information-based study.Frontiers in psychology · 2026Article
- Missed opportunities: The unknown impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on early childhood development in the WHO European region.Public health in practice (Oxford, England) · 2025Review
- The impact of the SARS-CoV2 pandemic on the mental health of scoliosis patients in Germany.European spine journal : official publication of the European Spine Society, the European Spinal Deformity Society, and the European Section of the Cervical Spine Research Society · 2025Article
- Relationship Between Adolescent Health Anxiety and Health-Related Internet Use: 3-Wave Longitudinal Survey Study.Journal of medical Internet research · 2025Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
8 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundThe high volume and pace of research has posed challenges to researchers, policymakers and practitioners wanting to understand the overall impact of the pandemic on children and young people's mental health. We aimed to search for and review the evidence from epidemiological studies to answer the question: how has mental health changed in the general population of children and young people?
methodsFour databases (Medline, CINAHL, EMBASE and PsychINFO) were searched in October 2021, with searches updated in February 2022. We aimed to identify studies of children or adolescents with a mean age of 18 years or younger at baseline, that reported change on a validated mental health measure from prepandemic to during the pandemic. Abstracts and full texts were double-screened against inclusion criteria and quality assessed using a risk of bias tool. Studies were narratively synthesised, and meta-analyses were performed where studies were sufficiently similar.
results6917 records were identified, and 51 studies included in the review. Only four studies had a rating of high quality. Studies were highly diverse in terms of design, setting, timing in relation to the pandemic, population, length of follow-up and choice of measure. Methodological heterogeneity limited the potential to conduct meta-analyses across studies. Whilst the evidence suggested a slight deterioration on some measures, overall, the findings were mixed, with no clear pattern emerging.
conclusionsOur findings highlight the need for a more harmonised approach to research in this field. Despite the sometimes-inconsistent results of our included studies, the evidence supports existing concerns about the impact of Covid-19 on children's mental health and on services for this group, given that even small changes can have a significant impact on provision at population level. Children and young people must be prioritised in pandemic recovery, and explicitly considered in planning for any future pandemic response.
Indexed as
Identifiers
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.