Generalized anxiety disorder in Berlin school children after the third COVID-19 wave in Germany: a cohort study between June and September 2021

Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Mental Health

Research

Marcus A. Mall¹  Stefanie Theuring²  Franziska Hommes²  Frank P. Mockenhaupt²  Mascha Kern³  Toivo Glatz³  Tobias Kurth³  Joachim Seybold⁴ 

[1] Department of Pediatric Respiratory Medicine, Immunology and Critical Care Medicine, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, corporate member of Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Augustenburger Platz 1, 13353, Berlin, Germany;Institute of International Health, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, corporate member of Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Augustenburger Platz 1, 13353, Berlin, Germany;Institute of Public Health, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, corporate member of Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Charitéplatz 1, 10117, Berlin, Germany;Medical Directorate, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, corporate member of Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt- Universität zu Berlin, Charitéplatz 1, 10117, Berlin, Germany;

关键词: COVID-19;    GAD-7;    Anxiety;    School children;    Adolescents;    Mental health;    Germany;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s13034-022-00552-0

 received in 2022-09-23, accepted in 2022-12-27,  发布年份 2022

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundDuring the COVID-19 pandemic, children and adolescents worldwide have disproportionally been affected in their psychological health and wellbeing. We conducted a cohort study among German school children, aiming at assessing levels of general anxiety disorder (GAD) and identifying associated factors in the second pandemic year.MethodsA cohort of 660 students from 24 Berlin schools was recruited to fill in questionnaires including the GAD-7 tool on anxiety symptoms at three time points between June and September 2021. To adjust for non-random attrition, we applied inverse probability weighting. We describe reported GAD levels stratified by time point, sex, and school type and report odds ratios from univariate logistic regression.ResultsIn total, 551 participants (83%) filled in at least one questionnaire at any time point. At the first time point in June 2021, 25% of the children and adolescents reported anxiety symptoms with a GAD-7 score ≥ 5, decreasing to 16% in August 2021 directly after the summer holidays and rising again to 26% in September 2021. The majority of reported anxiety levels belonged to the least severe category. Being female, attending secondary school, coming from a household with lower education or with lower income level, and being vaccinated against COVID-19 were significantly linked with reporting anxiety symptoms. Preceding COVID-19 infection and anxiety were negatively associated.ConclusionOverall, anxiety in school children was lower in mid-2021 than in the first pandemic year, but still double compared to pre-pandemic data. Reporting of anxiety symptoms during the second pandemic year was especially high in females and in secondary school students. Policy makers should pay additional attention to the mental health status of school children, even as the pandemic situation might stabilize.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© The Author(s) 2023. corrected publication 2023

【 图 表 】

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