Generalized anxiety among Finnish youth from 2013 to 2021-Trend and the impact of COVID-19.
J Affect Disord
; 330: 267-274, 2023 06 01.
Article
en En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-36914117
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND:
Alarming levels of emotional symptoms among youth were reported during the COVID-19 pandemic. Studies assessing these figures against the pre-pandemic developments are rare. We examined the trend of generalized anxiety (GA) in adolescents in the 2010s and the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic against this trend.METHODS:
Data from the Finnish School Health Promotion study with 750,000 participants aged 13-20 between 2013 and 2021 was analyzed using GAD-7 to measure self-reported GA (cut-off ≥10). Inquiries were made about remote learning arrangements. Effects of time and COVID-19 were analyzed with logistic regression.RESULTS:
Among females, an increasing trend in GA between 2013 and 2019 was found (OR per year 1.05), and the prevalence increased from 15.5 % to 19.7 %. Among males, the trend was decreasing (OR = 0.98), with prevalence from 6.0 % to 5.5 %. Increase in GA from 2019 to 2021 was stronger in females (19.7 % to 30.2 %) than males (5.5 % to 7.8 %), while the effect of COVID-19 on GA was equally strong (OR = 1.59 vs. OR = 1.60) against the pre-pandemic trends. Remote learning was associated with elevated levels of GA, especially among those with unmet needs for learning support.LIMITATIONS:
The design of repeated cross-sectional surveys doesn't allow analyses of within individual changes.CONCLUSIONS:
Given the pre-pandemic trends of GA, the COVID-19 effect on it appeared equal in both sexes. The increasing pre-pandemic trend among adolescent females and the strong effect of COVID-19 on GA among both sexes warrants constant monitoring of mental health of the youth in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic.Palabras clave
Texto completo:
1
Colección:
01-internacional
Banco de datos:
MEDLINE
Asunto principal:
COVID-19
Tipo de estudio:
Observational_studies
/
Prevalence_studies
/
Risk_factors_studies
Límite:
Adolescent
/
Female
/
Humans
/
Male
País/Región como asunto:
Europa
Idioma:
En
Revista:
J Affect Disord
Año:
2023
Tipo del documento:
Article