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Prevalence of mental health symptoms in children and adolescents during the COVID-19 pandemic: a meta-analysis
Open accessAbstract
The COVID-19 pandemic and its accompanying infection control measures introduced sudden and significant disruptions to the lives of children and adolescents around the world. Given the potential for negative impacts on the mental health of youths as a result of these changes, we conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis to examine the prevalence of depressive symptoms, anxiety symptoms, and sleep disturbances in children and adolescents during the pandemic. We searched major literature databases for relevant cross-sectional or longitudinal studies that included primary and secondary school students or children and adolescents ≤18 years of age. Prevalence values were extracted, logit-transformed, and pooled. Based on 191 included studies with 1,389,447 children and adolescents, we found the pooled prevalence of depressive symptoms, anxiety symptoms, and sleep disturbances to be 31%, 31%, and 42%, respectively. Age, grade levels, education levels, gender, geographical regions, and electronics use were correlated with the prevalence of mental health symptoms. The prevalence of mental health symptoms also increased with time, although signs of recovery and stabilization were also observed. Overall, the results from this review demonstrate the need for increased mental health research, monitoring, and intervention for children and adolescents during the current and future pandemics.
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“women have higher prevalence rates of both depression and anxiety problems (Deng et al., 2023; Shorey et al., 2022)”
From Process of change and efficacy of acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) for anxiety and depression symptoms in adolescents: A meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. (2025) · cites this paper as Deng et al., 2023
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AI-Based Early Warning System for Adolescent Mental Health
Wu, S., Huang, X., & Tai, Z. (2026) · Lecture notes in networks and systems · doi:10.1007/978-3-032-16705-7_28
Peñacoba, C., & Catalá, P. (2026) · Exploration of Digital Health Technologies · doi:10.37349/edht.2026.101191
Coetzee, B., Haine, P., Vuuren, M. J. V., & Kagee, A. (2026) · Journal of Child and Adolescent Mental Health · doi:10.2989/17280583.2026.2649249
Keresteš, G., Kožljan, P., Bagarić, I. R., & Ajduković, M. (2026) · Journal of Child & Adolescent Trauma · doi:10.1007/s40653-026-00889-0
“…et al., 2024; Efendi et al., 2023; Liang et al., 2021; Zhou et al., 2016), as well as during the COVID-19 pandemic (see reviews and meta-analyses by Deng et al., 2023; Madigan et al., 2023; Wolf & Schmitz, 2024), elevated levels of adolescents’ internalizing mental health problems, including…”
Hu, Z.-B., Ding, K.-Q., McDonald, S., Gong, Q., & Lin, Y. (2026) · Health Psychology and Behavioral Medicine · doi:10.1080/21642850.2026.2677983
“Worldwide, studies have also found that homeschooling during the COVID-19 pandemic has changed adolescents' lifestyle behaviors and caused relevant psychological and emotional problems (Deng et al., 2023; Panda et al., 2021).”
Woodgate, R. L., Mary-Quigley, L., Bell, A., Bennett, M., & Hatala, A. R. (2026) · PLoS ONE · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0349860
Roberts, K. J. S., Laurenzi, C. A., Mawoyo, T. L., Toit, S. D., Tomlinson, M., Cluver, L. D., & Sherr, L. (2026) · Child and Adolescent Mental Health · doi:10.1111/camh.70072 · Cited by 1
Oranye, N. O., Dibaba, A., Nwankwo, I. U., Webb, L. A., Lee, T., Alexander, M., Kagulire, J., Landu-Adams, V., Nnedum, O. A. U., Abdalla, E., et al. (2026) · BMJ Open · doi:10.1136/bmjopen-2025-113697
“6 36 37 Psychological distress tends to escalate during periods of social upheaval, as was observed during the pandemic.”
Nursing Interventions for Adolescent Mental Health: A Systematic Mixed-Methods Review
Segura-Daroca, P., Gea-Caballero, V., Juárez‐Vela, R., Chover‐Sierra, E., Martínez-Pascual, R. M., & Martínez‐Sabater, A. (2026) · Adolescents · doi:10.3390/adolescents6030046 · Cited by 1
“The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated this situation, causing an increase of up to 47% in mental disorders in minors and significantly raising the number of cases of anxiety, depression, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, and suicidal behavior [4,5].”
PlaySpace: delivering accessible, engaging play therapy through an innovative digital platform
MacLeay, H., & Cawley, E. (2026) · Mental Health and Digital Technologies · doi:10.1108/mhdt-10-2025-0073
Bowrin, P., Iqbal, U., & Sanna, M. (2026) · Health Education Journal · doi:10.1177/00178969261454237
“In addition, several studies have shown that the significant disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic have further exacerbated the situation (Deng et al., 2023; Kauhanen et al., 2023; Wolf and Schmitz, 2024).”
Mehrkesh, A., Natsuaki, M. N., Yates, T. M., Neiderhiser, J. M., Shaw, D. S., Ganiban, J. M., & Leve, L. D. (2026) · Research on Child and Adolescent Psychopathology · doi:10.1007/s10802-026-01474-7
“As a general trend, lev - els of internalizing symptoms are likely to increase from childhood to adolescence (Klinge et al., 2025; Steinsbekk et al., 2022); however, this developmental trajectory varies by symptom type and sex.”
Bai, H., Lin, Y., Wang, T., Yang, Y., Chen, X. J., Wang, N., Li, H., Yu, Z., Zeng, Q., Wang, J., et al. (2026) · Research Square · doi:10.21203/rs.3.rs-10356111/v1
van Dalen, M., Legerstee, J. S., Scholten, H., van Deutekom, A. W., Timme, S., Pasmans, S. G. M. A., Keijsers, L., & Hillegers, M. H. J. (2026) · doi:10.2196/preprints.109302
Training pre-service teachers on depression in childhood and adolescence: a controlled study
Grabowski, F. C. (2026) · Teacher Development · doi:10.1080/13664530.2026.2720164
“Depression and other mental health disorders are becoming increasingly prevalent in childhood and adolescence, affecting 5–10% of young people clinically and up to 30% symptomatically (Deng et al. 2023; Shorey, Ng, and Wong 2022; Wartberg, Kriston, and Thomasius 2018).”
Depressive Symptoms in 5–6-Year-Old Children: The Role of Family Resilience and Family Functioning
Atan, A., & FİLİZ, G. (2026) · Cukurova University Faculty of Education Journal · doi:10.14812/cuefd.1769953
Systematic scoping review of school-based psychological first aid programs
Fugmann, J., Schecklmann, M., Eisl, J., Kreuzer, P. M., Kandsperger, S., Brunner, R. M., & Langguth, B. (2026) · Acta Psychologica · doi:10.1016/j.actpsy.2026.107738
Costa, M. B., Noll, P. R. E. S., Cordeiro, L. L., Jesus, J. I. F. S., Nogueira, S. M., Barg, G., Monfort-Pañego, M., & Noll, M. A. (2026) · Discover Public Health · doi:10.1186/s12982-026-02944-5
“…1,389,447 participants indicated a high prevalence of depression and anxiety symptoms during the pandemic, with prevalence approximately 15% lower among those with low screen time, while excessive use of digital media was associated with worsening mental well-being and sedentary behavior [104].”
Yaacob, N. M., Doheir, M., Algumaei, A. H., Al-Andoli, M. N., Alsayaydeh, J. A. J., Elzamly, A., & Basari, A. S. (2026) · Frontiers in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry · doi:10.3389/frcha.2026.1905782
School-based digital mental health interventions: A scoping review
Santosh-Thomas, S., Aggarwal, A., Chandler, T., Dremann, S., Phillips, S., Lopez, E., Weist, M. D., & Daly, B. P. (2026) · Journal of Child and Adolescent Mental Health · doi:10.2989/17280583.2026.2721998
Shin, S., Naff, D., Corso, C. B., Powell, S., & Liu, J. L. (2026) · Journal of Applied School Psychology · doi:10.1080/15377903.2026.2744957
Zeng, C. G., Chai, C., Xu, J., Sha, M., & Xin, J. (2026) · Frontiers in Nutrition · doi:10.3389/fnut.2026.1913391
Youth Perspective on 21st Century Societal Challenges: A Youth-Informed Study
Brinke, L. W. T., & Crone, E. A. (2026) · Emerging Adulthood · doi:10.1177/21676968261501584
Metadata
- Authors
- Deng, J., Zhou, F., Hou, W., Heybati, K., Lohit, S., Abbas, U., Silver, Z., Wong, C. Y., Chang, O., Huang, E., Zuo, Q. K., Moskalyk, M., Ramaraju, H. B., & Heybati, S.
- Affiliations
- University of Toronto (CA)
- McMaster University (CA)
- Western University (CA)
- Mayo Clinic (US)
- Carleton University (CA)
- University of Ottawa (CA)
- Rutgers New Jersey Medical School (US)
- Virginia Commonwealth University (US)
- Queen's University (CA)
- Corresponding author
- Deng, Jiawen
- ORCID
- Venue
- Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Published
- 2022-12-20
- Volume
- 1520
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 53-73
- ISSN
- 0077-8923 (ISSN-L)
- 1749-6632
- PMC
- PMC9880764
- OpenAlex
- W4312019441
- Cited by
- 283
- References
- 252
- Citations by year
- 2026: 43 · 2025: 91 · 2024: 105 · 2023: 43 · 2022: 1
- FWCI
- 10.03
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Locations
- Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Scholarship at UWindsor (University of Windsor) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- McMaster University
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › COVID-19 and Mental Health
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Child and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional Development
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Maternal Mental Health During Pregnancy and Postpartum
- Keywords
- COVID-19 pandemic, children and adolescents, psychiatric symptoms, depressive symptoms, anxiety symptoms, sleep disorders, prevalence, school students, digital technology use, gender differences, post-pandemic recovery
- MeSH terms
- COVID-19, Adolescent, Anxiety, Child, Cross-Sectional Studies, Depression, Humans, Mental Health, Sleep Wake Disorders, Prevalence, Pandemics
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