Going Beyond Virus Biology: COVID-19's Impact on the Mental Health of Pediatric Populations in an Allergy Community

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Rationale

The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in lockdowns and social isolation practices for all children. Identifying the mental health impact of COVID-19 in this population with allergic disease is essential, given the published behavioral challenges in the Allergic pediatric population (Ferro et al., 2015)

Methods

A retrospective, 12 point questionnaire evaluating the mental health of younger children (aged 4-11) and 16 point questionnaire for older children/teens (aged 12-17) assessed the mental health impact of COVID-19 isolation. Data was collected from April to November 2020 in a community-based Allergy clinic. The above Mental Health and Anxiety Questionnaire (MHAQ) was based on a scoring system, 1-7, where 1 is "not at all agree” and 7 is "extremely agree". Parents assisted in clarifying questions

Results

Eighty-eight children (4-11) and fifty-seven teens (12-17) answered the MHAQ. Mean scores were compared with analyses of variance (ANOVA) and a two-tailed t-test. A significant difference in mean MHAQ scores was identified in younger (M = 44.5) versus older (M= 58.78) children, t (143) = -5.44, p = 2.3x10-7. Younger children displayed better mean MHAQ scores compared to teens.

Conclusions

Older children experienced higher levels of anxiety compared to younger children from the impact of COVID-19 induced isolation. Age was shown to be a significant factor in contributing to anxious thoughts and behaviors. Appreciating these differences will assist Allergy consultants to be more sensitive to the impact on mood during counselling of allergic conditions, which have been associated with higher levels of anxiety pre-COVID-19.

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