Agorastos, Agorastos, Thompson, Trevor ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9880-782X, Solmi, Marco, Cortese, Samuele, Estradé, Andrés, Radua, Joaquim, Dragioti, Elena, Vancampfort, Davy, Thygesen, Lau Caspar, Aschauer, Harald, Schlögelhofer, Monika, Aschauer, Elena, Schneeberger, Andres, Huber, Christian G., Hasler, Gregor, Conus, Philippe, Do Cuénod, Kim Q., von Känel, Roland, Arrondo, Gonzalo, Fusar-Poli, Paolo, Gorwood, Philip, Llorca, Pierre-Michel, Krebs, Marie-Odile, Scanferla, Elisabetta, Kishimoto, Taishiro, Rabbani, Golam, Skonieczna-Żydecka, Karolina, Brambilla, Paolo, Favaro, Angela, Takamiya, Akihiro, Zoccante, Leonardo, Colizzi, Marco, Bourgin, Julie, Kamiński, Karol, Moghadasin, Maryam, Seedat, Soraya, Matthews, Evan, Wells, John, Vassilopoulou, Emilia, Gadelha, Ary, Su, Kuan-Pin, Kwon, Jun Soo, Kim, Minah, Lee, Taeyoung, Papsuev, Oleg, Manková, Denisa, Boscutti, Andrea, Gerunda, Cristiano, Saccon, Diego, Righi, Elena, Monaco, Francesco, Croatto, Giovanni, Cereda, Guido, Demurtas, Jacopo, Brondino, Natascia, Veronese, Nicola, Enrico, Paolo, Politi, Pierluigi, Ciappolino, Valentina, Pfennig, Andrea, Bechdolf, Andreas, Meyer-Lindenberg, Andreas, Kahl, Kai G., Domschke, Katharina, Bauer, Michael, Koutsouleris, Nikolaos, Winter, Sibylle M., Borgwardt, Stefan, Bitter, Istvan, Balazs, Judit, Czobor, Pál, Unoka, Zsolt, Mavridis, Dimitris, Tsamakis, Konstantinos, Bozikas, Vasilios P., Tunvirachaisakul, Chavit, Maes, Michael, Rungnirundorn, Teerayuth, Supasitthumrong, Thitiporn, Haque, Ariful, Brunoni, Andre R., Costardi, Carlos Gustavo, Schuch, Felipe Barreto, Polanczyk, Guilherme, Luiz, Jhoanne Merlyn, Fonseca, Lais, Aparicio, Luana V., Valvassori, Samira S., Nordentoft, Merete, Vendsborg, Per, Hoffmann, Sofie Have, Sehli, Jihed, Sartorius, Norman, Heuss, Sabina C., Guinart, Daniel, Hamilton, Jane, Kane, John, Rubio, Jose, Sand, Michael, Koyanagi, Ai, Solanes, Aleix, Andreu-Bernabeu, Alvaro, Cáceres, Antonia San José, Arango, Celso, Díaz-Caneja, Covadonga M., Hidalgo-Mazzei, Diego, Vieta, Eduard, Gonzalez-Peñas, Javier, Fortea, Lydia, Parellada, Mara, Fullana, Miquel A., Verdolini, Norma, Andrlíková, Eva, Janků, Karolina, Millan, Mark J., Honciuc, Mihaela, Moniuszko-Malinowska, Anna, Łoniewski, Igor, Samochowiec, Jerzy, Kiszkiel, Łukasz, Marlicz, Maria, Sowa, Paweł, Marlicz, Wojciech, Spies, Georgina, Stubbs, Brendon, Firth, Joseph, Sullivan, Sarah, Darcin, Asli Enez, Aksu, Hatice, Dilbaz, Nesrin, Noyan, Onur, Kitazawa, Momoko, Kurokawa, Shunya, Tazawa, Yuki, Anselmi, Alejandro, Cracco, Cecilia, Machado, Ana Inés, Estrade, Natalia, De Leo, Diego, Curtis, Jackie, Berk, Michael, Carvalho, Andre F., Ward, Philip, Teasdale, Scott, Rosenbaum, Simon, Marx, Wolfgang, Horodnic, Adrian Vasile, Oprea, Liviu, Alexinschi, Ovidiu, Ifteni, Petru, Turliuc, Serban, Ciuhodaru, Tudor, Bolos, Alexandra, Matei, Valentin, Nieman, Dorien H., Sommer, Iris, van Os, Jim, van Amelsvoort, Therese, Sun, Ching-Fang, Guu, Ta-wei, Jiao, Can, Zhang, Jieting, Fan, Jialin, Zou, Liye, Yu, Xin, Chi, Xinli, de Timary, Philippe, van Winkel, Ruud, Ng, Bernardo, Pena, Edilberto, Arellano, Ramon, Roman, Raquel, Sanchez, Thelma, Movina, Larisa, Morgado, Pedro, Brissos, Sofia, Aizberg, Oleg, Mosina, Anna, Krinitski, Damir, Mugisha, James, Sadeghi-Bahmani, Dena, Sheybani, Farshad, Sadeghi, Masoud, Hadi, Samira, Brand, Serge, Errazuriz, Antonia, Crossley, Nicolas, Ristic, Dragana Ignjatovic, López-Jaramillo, Carlos, Efthymiou, Dimitris, Kuttichira, Praveenlal, Kallivayalil, Roy Abraham, Javed, Afzal, Afridi, Muhammad Iqbal, James, Bawo, Seb-Akahomen, Omonefe Joy, Fiedorowicz, Jess, Daskalakis, Jeff, Yatham, Lakshmi N., Yang, Lin, Okasha, Tarek, Dahdouh, Aïcha, Tiihonen, Jari, Shin, Jae Il, Lee, Jinhee, Mhalla, Ahmed, Gaha, Lotfi, Brahim, Takoua, Altynbekov, Kuanysh, Negay, Nikolay, Nurmagambetova, Saltanat, Jamei, Yasser Abu, Weiser, Mark and Correll, Christoph U (2026) Mental health, coping and related risk factors during the first 2 years of the COVID-19 pandemic in children: nationally representative, multi-wave, cross-sectional results from 12 countries from the global COH-FIT study. European Neuropsychopharmacology, 104:112741. ISSN 0924-977X (Print), 1873-7862 (Online) (doi:10.1016/j.euroneuro.2025.112741)

Preview

PDF (Open Access Article) 52032 THOMPSON_ Mental_Health_Coping_And_Related_Risk_Factors_During_The_First_2_years_Of_The_COVID-19_Pandemic_In_Children_(OA)_2025.pdf - Published Version Available under License Creative Commons Attribution. Download (3MB) | Preview

Abstract

Few multinational studies have assessed risk factors and coping strategies associated with the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on children’s mental health over time. The Collaborative Outcomes study on Health and Functioning during Infection Times (COH-FIT) is the largest transcontinental, multi-wave, cross-sectional survey collecting multi-nation data on well-being and psychopathology during the pandemic. We analyzed country-specific, general-population-based, representative COH-FIT data of 6067 children aged 6–13 years from 12 countries across repeated cross-sectional waves over a period of >2 years (Apr/2020–May/2022), addressing through current and retrospective assessment pre- to intra-pandemic changes in well-being (WHO-5) and general psychopathology scores (Pc) (0–100) in relation to COVID-related deaths, stringency index, eight a priori risk factors, and 16 coping strategies in different responders at each wave. From pre- to intra-pandemic, WHO-5 scores decreased (−4.59, 95 %CI=−6.18 to −2.99, p < 0.001), while PC-scores increased (+6.68, 95 %CI=4.48–8.88, p < 0.001) significantly, following distinct time patterns but both returning to near pre-pandemic levels. Changes in both scores varied by country. WHO-5 scores correlated strongly with PC and subdomain scores. Both score changes were significantly but minimally associated to COVID-19 deaths/stringency index. The proportion of children screening positive for depression increased from 3.9 % to 8.3 % (χ²=145.70, p < 0.001) and for major depression from 0.6 % to 2.2 % (χ²=68.64, p < 0.001) intrapandemic. WHO-5 and PC-score changes were significantly associated with female gender, school closure, and pre-existing physical and mental conditions, with cumulative effects. The five most frequently endorsed coping strategies were family contact (85.2 %), friends (67.3 %), outdoor play (54.0 %), pet interaction (51.5 %), and internet use (50.9 %). Identified risk groups and coping strategies can inform targeted interventions and global public health policy.

Item Type:	Article
Additional Information:	All authors thank all respondents who took the COH-FIT-C survey, funding agencies and all professional and scientific national and international associations supporting or endorsing the COH-FIT project. We would also like to acknowledge the contributions made by Friedrich Leisch and Björn Gerdle to the success of this project who have since deceased.
Uncontrolled Keywords:	COVID-19, WHO-5, children, mental health, pandemic
Subjects:	B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BF Psychology R Medicine > RC Internal medicine > RC0321 Neuroscience. Biological psychiatry. Neuropsychiatry R Medicine > RJ Pediatrics > RJ101 Child Health. Child health services
Faculty / School / Research Centre / Research Group:	Faculty of Education, Health & Human Sciences Faculty of Education, Health & Human Sciences > Institute for Lifecourse Development Faculty of Education, Health & Human Sciences > Institute for Lifecourse Development > Centre for Chronic Illness and Ageing Faculty of Education, Health & Human Sciences > School of Human Sciences (HUM)
Last Modified:	05 Jan 2026 13:09
URI:	https://gala.gre.ac.uk/id/eprint/52032

Actions (login required)

View Item

Downloads