A new study out of B.C. Children’s Hospital suggests up to two thirds of children and youth could be suffering some form of mental health impact during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Preliminary results of the research led by Dr. Quynh Doan, a clinician scientist with the B.C. Children’s Hospital Research Institute, found that 65 per cent of parents reported mild psychiatric issues and impacts with their kids over the last year.
That’s up from between 30 to 35 per cent before the pandemic, Doan told Global News.
Challenges included mood issues, anxiety and issues with conflict and relationships.
“A lot of the difficulties we’ve seen have to do with initiating and maintaining relationships, and that’s kind of hard when kids are taken out of their usual social environment,” Doan said.
“Given the difficulty we have been experiencing this past year, mild issues — and those are the mild issues — in terms of having to cope with the changes of school, sometimes parents losing employment, with family members getting sick, it is not surprising that two thirds of kids are feeling some stress.”
The study has consulted with 349 B.C. families with children aged 10 to 17 so far.
The research found about 21 per cent of youth in the study experienced moderate or severe issues, including mood disturbances, anxiety and suicidal ideation.
That number was relatively stable with what researchers had observed before the pandemic, Doan said.
“We were worried kids would come to the hospital and have significant mental health crises, and we’re not actually seeing that part much,” she said.
“We’re seeing a lot of kids having mild distress, but those who had severe issues before, they’re stable in terms of rate.”
Doan said the research will give policy makers a tool to help better allocate needed mental health resources to the province’s young people.
The research, Doan said, supports increasing social supports in the community along with mental health resources such as counselling at the family level — where stress has increased amid the pandemic.
“Because at this point parents are not just supporting their kids who are having distress, they themselves are also suffering the same kinds of challenges that their kids are facing,” she said.
Researchers are still hoping to hear form more families, particularly those in the Interior and Northern Health regions.
Families who wish to participate or learn more about the study can do so here.
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