ReviewChild and adolescent psychiatry and mental health2022
Increase of depression among children and adolescents after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in Europe: a systematic review and meta-analysis.
Review in Child and adolescent psychiatry and mental health, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 77 papers, 11 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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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.
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Who cites it
77 citing papers in PubMed, 11 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 136 citations in OpenAlex.
- Parents' experiences of their adolescent child's depression: a qualitative systematic review and meta-synthesis.BMC psychology · 2026Pooled it
- Effects of microbiota-based interventions on depression and anxiety in children and adolescents-A systematic review.Journal of pediatric gastroenterology and nutrition · 2025Pooled it
- Evidence linking COVID-19 and the health/well-being of children and adolescents: an umbrella review.BMC medicine · 2024Pooled it
- Genetics, epigenetics, and neurobiology of childhood-onset depression: an umbrella review.Molecular psychiatry · 2024Pooled it
- The impact of the pandemic on psychophysical well-being and quality of learning in the growth of adolescents (aged 11-13): a systematic review of the literature with a PRISMA method.Frontiers in psychology · 2024Pooled it
- Effects of exercise therapy on anxiety and depression in patients with COVID-19: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Frontiers in public health · 2024Pooled it
- Pooled it
- How the COVID-19 pandemic and related school closures reduce physical activity among children and adolescents in the WHO European Region: a systematic review and meta-analysis.The international journal of behavioral nutrition and physical activity · 2023Pooled it
- Changes in anxiety and depression during the COVID-19 pandemic in the European population: A meta-analysis of changes and associations with restriction policies.European psychiatry : the journal of the Association of European Psychiatrists · 2023Pooled 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
- Prevalence of depression, anxiety in China during the COVID-19 pandemic: an updated systematic review and meta-analysis.Frontiers in public health · 2023Pooled it
- Trial
- Article
- Trends in Mental Health Diagnoses Among Children and Adolescents Before and During the COVID-19 Pandemic in a Large German State.Children (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Health Literacy and Mental Health in Adolescents: Parental and Self-Reported Cross-Sectional Data in a Bilingual Region.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Counterfactual evaluation of elementary and secondary school policies in the COVID-19 pandemic.Nature communications · 2026Article
- Elevated depression and anxiety symptoms among younger adults in Germany during the post-pandemic period.BMC public health · 2026Article
- Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on antidepressant use in eleven European regions: a comparative time series analysis 2018-2022.Social psychiatry and psychiatric epidemiology · 2026Article
- The effects of school bullying victimization on the development of adolescent depression across genders: a hierarchical linear model analysis.BMC public health · 2026Article
- Continuity of care: time to first outpatient appointment after child and adolescent psychiatric hospital stays in Germany.BMC health services research · 2026Article
17 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
5 authors at 4 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundResearch points to a high depression burden among youth during the COVID-19 pandemic; however, a lack of systematic evidence exists. We determine the change in depression symptoms among children and adolescents during COVID-19 compared to pre-pandemic baselines. By using country differences in pandemic-related restrictions and school closures in Europe as quasi-experimental design, we evaluate policy impacts on depression.
methodsIn this systematic review and meta-analysis, following the PRISMA statement, we searched six databases (MEDLINE, EMBASE, PsycINFO, Cochrane Central, Web of Science, WHO COVID-19) using a peer-reviewed search string up until March 18, 2022 with citation tracking and grey literature searches. No limitations regarding language and effect measures existed. We included studies that compared (1) general depression symptoms or (2) clinically relevant depression rates in children and adolescents (≤ 19 years) before and during the COVID-19 pandemic in Europe. The validated Oxford Stringency Index was used as indicator for pandemic-related restrictions. Screening for eligibility, extracting data from published reports and from unpublished data requested directly from study authors, assessing the study risk of bias and grading certainty of evidence using the GRADE approach, were all done in duplicate. Data were pooled in a random-effects model. PROSPERO: CRD42022303714.
resultsOf 7,422 nonduplicate records, 22 studies with data from 868,634 participants pre-pandemic and 807,480 during pandemic, met full inclusion criteria. For the comparison of depression symptoms before and during the COVID-19 pandemic, moderate certainty of evidence was observed for general depression symptoms (standardized mean difference, 0.21 [95%CI, 0.12-0.30]; I
conclusionAn increase in depression symptoms occurred in a pre-pandemic vs. during-pandemic comparison within the COVID-19 pandemic, whereby pandemic-related restrictions (such as school closures) resulted in a considerable effect increase. Ensuring adequate supply of mental health recovery services and long-term monitoring is of high public health relevance.
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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.