Key Messages

• Information is key; children and adolescents need to be educated and informed about the pandemic situations.
• Effective and rapid communication is essential.
• Most of the adverse effects come from the school closure, isolation, limited physical activities, social distancing, and imposition of a restriction of liberty.
• Parents, teachers, health care providers, and public health officials can play an important role in minimizing the impact of pandemic on mental and psychological health.
• Children and adolescents’ access to mental health services should be improved and should be social-distancing and lockdown friendly.
• Mental health professionals should use existing evidence-based guidelines and also establish easy operational strategies such as mobile based applications to cope with COVID-19 pandemic-related mental health problems in children and adolescents.

Keywords

• Children
• Adolescents
• Pandemic
• COVID-19
• Mental health
• Substance abuse
• Anxiety
• Depression
• Isolation
• Psychological health

Author(s)

• Nominated Principal Applicant: Dr. Salima Meherali, University of Alberta, Faculty of Nursing
• Dr. Zohra Lassi, University of Adelaide
• Jai Das, Aga Khan University Hospital
• Rehana Abdus Salam, Aga Khan University Hospital
• Neelam Punjani, University of Alberta, Faculty of Nursing

For more information, please contact: Salima Meherali, meherali@ualberta.ca

Related Syntheses

• Knowledge Synthesis for Mechanistic and Targeted In-Person and Digital Social-Connection Intervention for Wellness and Resilience in Older Adults in Pandemic Context and Beyond
• Alcohol Consumption and the COVID-19 Pandemic: Synthesizing Knowledge for Policy Action
• Interventions to Mitigate COVID-19 Related Mental Health Risks for Those with Pre-existing Chronic Health Conditions and Facing Social and Economic Barriers: A Scoping and Rapid Realist Review

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Population

People Who Use Drugs (PWUD) and Substance Use, Children, Youth and Families

Language

To ensure the rapid dissemination of this critical information, information is published in the language in which it was submitted. Please contact us for French or English translations.