Current impact and future consequences of the pandemic on children's and adolescents' health

Arch Argent Pediatr. 2021 Dec;119(6):e594-e599. doi: 10.5546/aap.2021.eng.e594.
[Article in English, Spanish]

Abstract

There is plenty bibliography about the impact of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic on the mental and social health of children, adolescents, and youth. A very high percentage of this population developed emotional symptoms and their levels of anxiety, depression, and suicidal ideation increased considerably. The adults who were responsible for generating a support network were impacted and suffered emotional symptoms and job and economic uncertainty. In many children, without a supportive context, exposure to adverse experiences increased, so the pandemic may be considered an adverse experience itself. The future effect of such unfavorable experience on childhood and how family and social support may help to reduce stress through the development of resilience were reviewed. As citizens and health care providers, our responsibility is to reflect, discuss, and develop strategies to mitigate such damage that may have severe consequences on the mental and physical health of children and adults.

Existe abundante bibliografía relacionada con el impacto de la pandemia de la enfermedad por el coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) en la salud mental y social de niños, niñas, adolescentes y jóvenes. Un altísimo porcentaje de esta población tuvo síntomas emocionales y el nivel de ansiedad, depresión y pensamientos suicidas aumentaron considerablemente. Los adultos responsables de generar una red de soporte sufrieron el impacto con síntomas emocionales, inseguridad laboral y económica. En muchos niños, sin un entorno contenedor, aumentó la exposición a experiencias adversas, por lo que la pandemia puede considerarse como una experiencia adversa en sí misma. Se revisó el efecto a futuro de estas experiencias desfavorables en la infancia y cómo, con adecuado soporte familiar y social, podría disminuirse la sensibilidad al estrés generando mecanismos de resiliencia. La responsabilidad como ciudadanos y profesionales de la salud es reflexionar, discutir y desarrollar estrategias para mitigar estos daños que pueden tener graves consecuencias en la salud mental y física durante la niñez y la adultez.

Keywords: COVID-19; adverse childhood experiences; mental health; secondary prevention, child health.

MeSH terms

  • Adolescent
  • Adult
  • Anxiety
  • COVID-19*
  • Child
  • Health Personnel
  • Humans
  • Pandemics*
  • SARS-CoV-2