‘The world somehow stopped moving’: impact of the COVID‐19 pandemic on adolescent psychiatric outpatients and the implementation of teletherapy
Open accessAbstract
Background: The COVID‐19 pandemic results in disproportional consequences for psychiatric patients. Due to restraints in physical contacts, providers switched from face‐to‐face contacts to teletherapy, but prior experiences were mostly limited. The study aimed at assessing symptom dynamics, potentially increased adversities and factors influencing a successful transition into teletherapy in adolescent psychiatric outpatients during the COVID‐19 pandemic. Method: Thirty adolescent psychiatric outpatients participated in an interview‐based study. The differential impact of the COVID‐19 pandemic was measured by integrating patients’ and psychiatrists’ judgements. Results: Patients who reported deteriorated symptoms and patients who showed (partial) improvement of symptomatology could be separated by feelings of isolation (specific to deterioration) and perceived reduction in school‐associated stress (unique to improvement). Patients with worsening symptomatology showed a significantly higher degree of psychosocial disability before lockdown and at the first interview. Patients who deteriorated in their level of psychosocial functioning also reported negatively on teletherapy. These patients were verbally less differentiated concerning emotions and affect, reported introspection and rumination, and stated distinctly lower levels of perceived social support. Concerning adversities, no clear trend could be identified, but some patients reported increased domestic violence and neglect. Conclusions: Patients with a higher degree of psychosocial disability suffer disproportionally from the crisis, so that an assessment of functioning should serve as a triage tool. Also, a screening of the perceived level of social support should be established before offering teletherapy. Additionally, the provision of strategies to enhance verbalisation and differentiation of emotions and affect might be beneficial.
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The prevalence of mental illness increased in children, adolescents, and young adults during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The prevalence of mental illness increased in children, adolescents, and young adults during the COVID-19 pandemic, while at the same time, access to treatment facilities has been restricted, resulting in a need for the quick implementation of remote or online interventions.”
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- Authors
- Huscsava, M. M., Scharinger, C., Plener, P. L., & Kothgassner, O. D.
- Affiliations
- Medical University of Vienna (AT)
- Universität Ulm (DE)
- Corresponding author
- Kothgassner, Oswald D.
- Venue
- Child and Adolescent Mental Health
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Published
- 2021-06-11
- Volume
- 27
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 232-237
- ISSN
- 1475-357X (ISSN-L)
- 1475-3588
- OpenAlex
- W3172174688
- Cited by
- 10
- References
- 29
- Citations by year
- 2025: 2 · 2024: 1 · 2023: 3 · 2022: 4
- FWCI
- 1.36
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- hybrid
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Child and Adolescent Mental Health (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- World Health Organization (SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19)
- Bundesinstitut für Arzneimittel und Medizinprodukte
- Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung (SARS-CoV-2)
- Universität Wien
- Medizinische Universität Wien
- Servier
- H. Lundbeck A/S
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › COVID-19 and Mental Health
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Telemedicine and Telehealth Implementation
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Psychiatric care and mental health services
- Keywords
- COVID-19 pandemic, external beam radiotherapy, symptom deterioration, social isolation, academic stress, psychosocial disability, perceived social support, emotion differentiation, rumination, domestic violence, neglect, triage tool
- MeSH terms
- COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2, Adolescent, Communicable Disease Control, Humans, Outpatients, Pandemics
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