About this Research Topic
The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) epidemic has dramatically spread throughout the world, which has also caused mental health problems among the public, especially vulnerable groups like children and adolescents. As a traumatic event, the outbreak of COVID-19 might increase the prevalence of a series of mental health problems in children and adolescents probably due to social distancing, school closures, as well as separation from parents, and home quarantine.
The continuing spreading of COVID-19 infection, as well as vaccine uptake strategies, quarantine policies, and health services during post epidemic era may also have a long-lasting side effect on children and adolescents. Children and adolescents are in critical periods of neurodevelopment and once they develop mental health problems, the long-lasting negative influence might span across their lifetime. Moreover, long-term multisystem sequelae, including neurological and psychiatric systems, of COVID-19 infection in children also compromise the development of physical and mental wellbeing in adulthood. Though there have been several studies on mental health consequences and long-term impact on the mental health of children and adolescents caused by COVID-19, there is still limited data and more comprehensive studies are needed on this important topic.
The goal of this Research Topic is mainly to highlight the acute and long-term impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the mental health of children and adolescents and to investigate effective and affordable interventions and strategies to cope with their mental health problems. We welcome Original Research and Reviews including (but not limited to) the following topics:
1. The mental health problems, substance use disorders, and deviant behaviors of children and adolescents during the COVID-19 pandemic, and related risk factors.
2. Change of lifestyle, learning and educational setting, and relationships with peers, family, and society during and after the COVID-19 pandemic and their influence on the mental health of children and adolescents.
3. COVID-19 vaccines and willingness of uptake among the children and adolescents.
4. The neurological, neuropsychiatric, and neurodevelopmental complication or sequelae among the pediatric COVID-19 survivors, and related interventions and medical treatment.
5. The stigmatization and discrimination against pediatric survivors and children and related strategies.
6. Effective and affordable interventions, especially online interventions, of mental health disorders of children and adolescents related to the COVID-19 outbreak.
The continuing spreading of COVID-19 infection, as well as vaccine uptake strategies, quarantine policies, and health services during post epidemic era may also have a long-lasting side effect on children and adolescents. Children and adolescents are in critical periods of neurodevelopment and once they develop mental health problems, the long-lasting negative influence might span across their lifetime. Moreover, long-term multisystem sequelae, including neurological and psychiatric systems, of COVID-19 infection in children also compromise the development of physical and mental wellbeing in adulthood. Though there have been several studies on mental health consequences and long-term impact on the mental health of children and adolescents caused by COVID-19, there is still limited data and more comprehensive studies are needed on this important topic.
The goal of this Research Topic is mainly to highlight the acute and long-term impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the mental health of children and adolescents and to investigate effective and affordable interventions and strategies to cope with their mental health problems. We welcome Original Research and Reviews including (but not limited to) the following topics:
1. The mental health problems, substance use disorders, and deviant behaviors of children and adolescents during the COVID-19 pandemic, and related risk factors.
2. Change of lifestyle, learning and educational setting, and relationships with peers, family, and society during and after the COVID-19 pandemic and their influence on the mental health of children and adolescents.
3. COVID-19 vaccines and willingness of uptake among the children and adolescents.
4. The neurological, neuropsychiatric, and neurodevelopmental complication or sequelae among the pediatric COVID-19 survivors, and related interventions and medical treatment.
5. The stigmatization and discrimination against pediatric survivors and children and related strategies.
6. Effective and affordable interventions, especially online interventions, of mental health disorders of children and adolescents related to the COVID-19 outbreak.
Keywords: COVID-19, Mental Health, children and adolescents, education, sequelae, online intervention
Important Note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.
