Depression, Suicide Concerns up among Teens during pandemic
Mental Health. | Depression and suicide concerns increased among adolescents during the pandemic,
especially among females, according to a study recently published online in Pediatrics.
Stephanie L Mayne, PhD, from The Possibilities Project Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, and colleagues compared the percent of primary care visits among adolescents aged 12 to 21 years with screening for depression, screening positive for depression, and screening positive for suicide risk between June and December 2019 and June and December 2020 (pre-pandemic vs pandemic periods).
The researchers found that during the pandemic period, there was a decrease in depression screening at primary care visits from 77.6% to 75.8% (prevalence ratio, 0.98; 95% confidence interval, 0.90 to 1.06).