COVID-19 & Mental Health Study
The COVID-19 pandemic has had a massive societal impact, likened to a disaster. Public health directives for self-isolation and physical distancing (COVID-19 Emergency Measures; EM) have led to the closure of non-essential services, including schools and recreational facilities. Existing literature has shown that disaster events and quarantine measures are known to cause psychological trauma, severe anxiety, irritability, and behavior changes. However, little is known about their impact on children particularly among the large proportion (1 in 5) of children in Canada with pre-existing mental health disorders, who are expected to be more vulnerable. With parents taking on unfamiliar role, such as supervising a child’s education, and children no longer having familiar routines, the psychological impact is expected to be high.
Four leading research teams in child mental health: SickKids Child and Youth Psychiatry Outpatient Program, the Province of Ontario Neurodevelopmental (POND) Network, The Applied Research Group for Kids (TARGet Kids!), and Spit for Science, joined forces to improve our understanding of the mental health and wellbeing among Canadian children, parents, and families during the COVID-19 pandemic. The study explores the impact of COVID-19 emergency measures on child and family mental health, well-being, and functioning. This includes understanding how children and their parents felt as a result of the COVID-19 emergency measures, in addition to the impact on their relationships (i.e., with friends and extended family members) and daily activities (e.g., physical activity [1], eating habits, screen time [2], and sleep). The team has continued to examine the impact of the emergency public health measures across multiple waves of the pandemic, including periods of repeated closures and societal re-opening. The pandemic-related disruption to education and children’s school experiences are also closely examined. This includes how children and youth think and feel about school and the critical role of extracurriculars, sports, and social learning activities as supports for child and youth mental health.
Beyond identifying severity of mental health among children, youth, and families during the pandemic, this study is helping to identify important points of intervention. This research is ongoing and we are continuing to investigate how best to support the mental health of young Canadians and their families. We are actively working with community partners in both the public health and education systems in an effort to promote resilience for future challenges that children and youth may face beyond the pandemic.
The COVID-19 and Mental Health Research Team has a strong commitment to the development of Early Career Investigators, as well as undergraduate and graduate-level trainees. Currently, 6 major research papers from the COVID-19 and Kids’ Mental Health Study have been led by trainees [3,4,5,6,7,8]. These individuals come from schools in medicine, psychiatry, psychology, education, and public health. We also provide opportunities for undergraduate students through an annual summer internship program offered by the University of Toronto and the Hospital for Sick Children.
For more information, email:
covid.mentalhealth@sickkids.ca
COVID-19 & Mental Health Publications
-
LaForge-MacKenzie, K., Tombeau Cost, K., Tsujimoto, K. C., Crosbie, J., Charach, A., Anagnostou, E., Birken, C. S., Monga, S., Kelley, E., Burton, C. L., Nicolson, R., Georgiades, S., & Korczak, D. J. (2022). Participating in extracurricular activities and school sports during the COVID-19 pandemic: Associations with child and youth mental health. Frontiers in sports and active living, 4, 936041. https://doi.org/10.3389/fspor.2022.936041.
-
Li, X., Vanderloo, L.M., Keown-Stoneman, C.D.G., Tombeau Cost, K., Charach, A., Maguire, J.L., Monga, S., Crosbie, J., Burton, C.L., Anagnostou, E., Georgiades, S., Nicolson, R., Kelley, E., Ayub, M., Korczak, D.J., Birken, C.S. (2021). Screen use and mental health symptoms in Canadian children and youth during the COVID-19 pandemic. JAMA Network Open, Dec 1;4(12):e2140875. doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2021.40875
-
Charalampopoulou, M., Choi, E. J., Korczak, D. J., Cost, K. T., Crosbie, J., Birken, C. S., Charach, A., Monga, S., Kelley, E., Nicolson, R., Georgiades, S., Ayub, M., Schachar, R. J., Iaboni, A., & Anagnostou, E. (2022). Mental health profiles of autistic children and youth during the COVID-19 pandemic. Paediatrics & child health, 27(Suppl 1), S59–S65. https://doi.org/10.1093/pch/pxab111. View article.
-
Lo, R.F., Schumacher, A., LaForge-Mackenzie, K. et al. Evaluation of an automated matching system of children and families to virtual mental health resources during COVID-19. Child Adolesc Psychiatry Ment Health 18, 24 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1186/s13034-024-00716-0
-
Park, C., Tsujimoto, K. C., Cost, K. T., Anagnostou, E., Birken, C. S., Charach, A., Monga, S., Kelley, E., Nicolson, R., Georgiadis, S., Burton, C., Crosbie, J., & Korczak, D. J. (2023). The distinction between social connectedness and support when examining depressive symptoms among children and adolescents during the covid-19 pandemic. Child Psychiatry and Human Development. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10578-023-01616-8.
-
Rizeq, J., Korczak, D. J., Cost, K. T., Anagnostou, E., Charach, A., Monga, S., Birken, C. S., Kelley, E., Nicolson, R., Burton, C. L., & Crosbie, J. (2021). Vulnerability pathways to mental health outcomes in children and parents during covid-19. Current Psychology: A Journal for Diverse Perspectives on Diverse Psychological Issues. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-021-02459-z.
-
Tsujimoto, K. C., Cost, K. T., LaForge-MacKenzie, K., Anagnostou, E., Birken, C. S., Charach, A., Monga, S., Kelly, E., Nicolson, R., Georgiadis, S., Lee, N., Osokin, K., Arnold, P., Schachar, R., Burton, C., Crosbie, J., & Korczak, D. J. (2022). School and learning contexts during the COVID-19 pandemic: Implications for child and youth mental health. Current psychology (New Brunswick, N.J.), 42(34), 1–17. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-022-03941-y
-
Tsujimoto, K. C., Cost, K. T., Laforge-Mackenzie, K., Anagnostou, E., Birken, C. S., Charach, A., Monga, S., Kelley, E., Nicolson, R., Georgiadis, S., Lee, N., Osokin, K., Burton, C., Crosbie, J., & Korczak, D. (2023). Disruption to Education During COVID-19: School Nonacademic Factors Are Associated with Children's Mental Health. Journal of developmental and behavioral pediatrics : JDBP, 44(2), e95–e103. https://doi.org/10.1097/DBP.0000000000001157
Born K., Beate S., Schwartz B., Razak F., Steiner R., Allen U., Bodmer N., Cohn R., Earn D., Etches V., Evans G., Freeman S., Gallagher-Mackay K., Hopkins J., Juni P., Korczak DJ., Mah L., McGeer A., Minhas R., Morris A., Musquash C., Orkin J., Pai M., Perkhun A., Presseau J., Science M., Slutsky A., Smylie J., Spatz Friedman D., Srivastava P., Thampi N., Wallingford S., Watts T., Weese S., & Willmore J. (2022). Ontario Returns to School: An Overview of the Science. Policy Brief. Retrieved from: https://covid19- sciencetable.ca/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/Ontario-Returns-to-School-An-Overview-of-the- Science_20220112-1.pdf
Cheung, T. C. K., Korczak, D. J., Cost, K. T., Anagnostou, E., Birken, C. S., Charach, A., Monga, S., & Crosbie, J. (2023). 3.41 change matters: Using latent growth curve model to study the trajectory of irritability in children and youth throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 62(10). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaac.2023.09.206
Coelho, S. G., Segovia, A., Anthony, S. J., Lin, J., Pol, S., Crosbie, J., Science, M., Matava, C. T., Parekh, R. S., Caldeira-Kulbakas, M., Carroll, S., Greenwood, J. L., Panzera, G., Imgrund, R., Osokin, K., & Korczak, D. J. (2022). Return to school and mask-wearing in class during the COVID-19 pandemic: Student perspectives from a school simulation study. Paediatrics & child health, 27(Suppl 1), S15–S21. https://doi.org/10.1093/pch/pxab102
Cost, K. T., Crosbie, J., Anagnostou, E., Birken, C. S., Charach, A., Monga, S., Kelley, E., Nicolson, R., Maguire, J. L., Burton, C. L., Schachar, R. J., Arnold, P. D., & Korczak, D. J. (2022). Mostly worse, occasionally better: impact of COVID-19 pandemic on the mental health of Canadian children and adolescents. European child & adolescent psychiatry, 31(4), 671–684. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00787-021-01744-3
Cost, K. T., Mudiyanselage, P., Unternaehrer, E., Korczak, D. J., Crosbie, J., Anagnastou, E., Monga, S., Kelley, E., Schachar, R., Maguire, J., Arnold, P., Burton, C. L., Georgiades, S., Nicolson, R., Birken, C. S., & Charach, A. (2023). The role of parenting practices in parent and child mental health over time. BJPsych Open, 9, Article e147. https://doi.org/10.1192/bjo.2023.529
Korczak, D. J., Cost, K. T., LaForge-MacKenzie, K., Anagnostou, E., Birken, C. S., Charach, A., Monga, S., & Crosbie, J. (2022). Ontario COVID-19 and Kids Mental Health Study: a study protocol for the longitudinal prospective evaluation of the impact of emergency measures on child and adolescent mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic. BMJ open, 12(3), e057248. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2021-057248
Korczak, D. J., Lo, R. F., Rizeq, J., Crosbie, J., Charach, A., Anagnostou, E., Birken, C. S., Monga, S., Kelley, E., Nicolson, R., Arnold, P. D., Maguire, J. L., Schachar, R. J., Georgiades, S., Burton, C. L., & Cost, K. T. (2024). The trajectory of depression and anxiety among children and adolescents over two years of the COVID-19 pandemic. Psychiatry research, 339, 116101. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychres.2024.116101
Korczak, D. J., Madigan, S., & Vaillancourt, T. (2022). Data Divide—disentangling the role of the COVID-19 pandemic on Child Mental Health and well-being. JAMA Pediatrics, 176(7), 635. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamapediatrics.2022.0791
Racine, N., Korczak, D.J. & Madigan, S. Evidence suggests children are being left behind in COVID-19 mental health research. Eur Child Adolesc Psychiatry 31, 1479–1480 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00787-020-01672-8
Science M, Thampi N, Bitnun A, Born KB, Blackman N, Cohen E, Cohn RD, Dubey V, Gallagher-Mackay K, Khan S, Kim J, Korczak DJ, Leifso K, MacDonald LM, McCready J, Morris AM, Orkin J, Perkhun A, Pollitt K, Razak FA, Samson L, Schwartz B, Siegel JA, Wakegijig A, Allen U (2022). Infection prevention and control considerations for schools during the 2022-2023 academic year. Science Briefs of the Ontario COVID-19 Science Advisory Table. 2022, 3(64). https://doi.org/10.47326/ocsat.2022.03.64.1.0
Science M, Bitnun S, Allen U, Birken C, Cohen E, Cohn R, Friedman J, Kitai I, Korczak, DJ, Mainland J, Morris S, Nishid J, Read S, Solomon R, Streitenberger L, Wadhwa A, Waters V, Cohen-Silver J, Freeman S, …, Loh A. (2020) COVID-19: Guidance for School Reopening. Retrieved from http://www.sickkids.ca/PDFs/About-SickKids/81407-COVID19-Recommendations-for-School-Reopening- SickKids.pdf
Toomb E, Mushquash CJ, Mah L, Short K, Young N, Cheng C, Zhu L, Strudwick G, Birken CS, Hopkins J, Korczak DJ, Perkhun A, Karen B (2022). Increased Screen Time for Children and Youth During the COVID-19 Pandemic. Science Briefs of the Ontario COVID-19 Science Advisory Table. 2022, 3(59). https://doi.org/10.47326/ocsat.2022.03.59.1.0
Tsujimoto, K. C., Anagnostou, E., Birken, C. S., Charach, A., Tombeau Cost, K., Kelley, E., Monga, S., Nicolson, R., Georgiades, S., Lee, N., Osokin, K., Burton, C., Crosbie, J., & Korczak D., J. The effect of screen time and positive school factors in the pathway to child and youth mental health outcomes. Research on Child and Adolescent Psychopathology. 2024 (in press).
Vibert, B., Segura, P., Gallagher, L., Georgiades, S., Pervanidou, P., Thurm, A., Alexander, L., Anagnostou, E., Aoki, Y., Birken, C. S., Bishop, S. L., Boi, J., Bravaccio, C., Brentani, H., Canevini, P., Carta, A., Charach, A., Costantino, A., Cost, K. T., Cravo, E. A., … Di Martino, A. (2023). CRISIS AFAR: an international collaborative study of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on mental health and service access in youth with autism and neurodevelopmental conditions. Molecular autism, 14(1), 7. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13229-022-00536-z
