COVID-19 pandemic linked with worse mental health in teensIn a population study of 13- to 18-year-old Icelandic teens, mental health worsened during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a study late last week in The Lancet Psychiatry.The researchers analyzed 59,701 survey responses across two pre-pandemic baselines (2016, 2018) as well as during the pandemic (October 2020) and found that depressive symptoms increased (β 0.57; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.53 to 0.60) and mental wellbeing worsened (β 0.46; 95% CI, -0.49 to -0.42).
The outcomes were significantly worse in girls than in boys (β 4.16 and -1.13, respectively).Depression was measured with the Symptom Checklist-90, and data showed that symptoms significantly increased over time,