COVID-19-Related Financial Disruptions Linked to Child Mental Health

THURSDAY, March 16, 2023 (HealthDay News) — COVID-19-policy-related financial disruptions were associated with child mental health outcomes, while school disruptions were not, according to a study published online March 13 in JAMA Network Open.

Yunyu Xiao, Ph.D., from Weill Cornell Medicine in New York City, and colleagues conducted a cohort study based on the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development Study COVID-19 Rapid Response Release to examine whether financial and school disruptions related to COVID-19 containment policies and unemployment rates were associated with perceived stress, sadness, positive affect, COVID-19-related worry, and sleep. The mental health sample included 6,030 children aged 10 to 13 years.

The researchers found that experiencing financial disruption was associated with a 205.2 and 112.1 percent increase in stress and sadness, a 32.9 percent decrease in positive affect, and a 73.9 percent increase in moderate-to-extreme COVID-19-related worry, after imputing missing data. School disruption was not associated with mental health. There were no associations observed for school disruption or financial disruption with sleep.

“We found that the primary driver of mental health was problems in the home regarding parents not having employment, or having less employment,” a coauthor said in a statement. “I think children are very sensitive as to how their parents perceive such situations.”

One author disclosed having a patent for the Columbia Suicide Severity Rating Scale (C-SSRS) with royalties paid from the Research Foundation for Mental Hygiene Royalties for commercial use of the C-SSRS.