COVID-19 and School Closures: A Narrative Review of Pediatric Mental Health Impacts

ABSTRACT

School closures were part of a larger COVID-19 mitigation effort. However, policymakers over-weighted concerns about the virus to the neglect of other aspects of pediatric health, including mental health. This narrative review summarizes findings from 40 studies. School closures appear to have been an ineffective mitigation strategy, yet children and adolescents experienced increased anxiety, depression, and loneliness, as well as an overall reduction of wellbeing. Suicidal ideation and incidence increased as well. Connecting with family and friends, even if virtually, improved these outcomes. Females and those living in poverty experienced worse mental health outcomes compared to their peers.

KEYWORDS:

• adolescent
• COVID-19
• mental health
• pediatric
• school closures

Acknowledgments

I am grateful to Harry Partrinos at the World Bank and Leanne Marshall at Auburn University for their feedback on this paper. This work is much improved because of their insights.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.