Evidence map›Paper›PMID 36895004›Full record

ArticleChild and adolescent psychiatry and mental health2023

The impact of COVID-19 and bushfires on the mental health of Australian adolescents: a cross-sectional study.

Joanne R Beames, Kit Huckvale, Hiroko Fujimoto, Kate Maston, Philip J Batterham, Alison L Calear, Andrew Mackinnon, Aliza Werner-Seidler, Helen Christensen

Abstract read
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In one paragraph

Article in Child and adolescent psychiatry and mental health, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 6 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
6citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from 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.

2 · The registry

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.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

6 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Natural disasters and suicidality in Australia: a systematic review.Social psychiatry and psychiatric epidemiology · 2026
    Review
  2. Longitudinal effects of bushfire harm on adolescent mental health.The Australian and New Zealand journal of psychiatry · 2026
    Article
  3. Article
  4. Review
  5. Article
  6. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

9 authors.

Joanne R BeamesBlack Dog Institute, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, Australia. joanne.beames@kuleuven.be.
Kit HuckvaleCentre for Digital Transformation of Health, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.
Hiroko FujimotoBlack Dog Institute, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
Kate MastonBlack Dog Institute, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
Philip J BatterhamCentre for Mental Health Research, Australian National University, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia.
Alison L CalearCentre for Mental Health Research, Australian National University, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia.
Andrew MackinnonBlack Dog Institute, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
Aliza Werner-SeidlerBlack Dog Institute, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
Helen ChristensenSchool of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, Australia.

Funding

National Health and Medical Research Council GNT1138405National Health and Medical Research Council GNT1158707National Health and Medical Research Council GNT1173146National Health and Medical Research Council GNT1197074
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundWhen COVID-19 spread to Australia in January 2020, many communities were already in a state of emergency from the Black Summer bushfires. Studies of adolescent mental health have typically focused on the effects of COVID-19 in isolation. Few studies have examined the impact of COVID-19 and other co-occurring disasters, such as the Black Summer bushfires in Australia, on adolescent mental health.

methodsWe conducted a cross-sectional survey to examine the impact of COVID-19 and the Black Summer bushfires on the mental health of Australian adolescents. Participants (N = 5866; mean age 13.61 years) answered self-report questionnaires about COVID-19 diagnosis/quarantine (being diagnosed with and/or quarantined because of COVID-19) and personal exposure to bushfire harm (being physically injured, evacuated from home and/or having possessions destroyed). Validated standardised scales were used to assess depression, psychological distress, anxiety, insomnia, and suicidal ideation. Trauma related to COVID-19 and the bushfires was also assessed. The survey was completed in two large school-based cohorts between October 2020 and November 2021.

resultsExposure to COVID-19 diagnosis/quarantine was associated with increased probability of elevated trauma. Exposure to personal harm by the bushfires was associated with increased probability of elevated insomnia, suicidal ideation, and trauma. There were no interactive effects between disasters on adolescent mental health. Effects between personal risk factors and disasters were generally additive or sub-additive.

conclusionsAdolescent mental health responses to community-level disasters are multi-faceted. Complex psychosocial factors associated with mental ill health may be relevant irrespective of disaster. Future research is needed to investigate synergistic effects of disasters on young mental health.

Indexed as

AdolescentBushfireCOVID-19DisasterYouth mental health

Identifiers

PMID36895004
PMCPMC9998012

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Registered trials

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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.