How public health emergency measures have affected the Mental health of children and adolescents & What Beat the Streets Toronto is doing to tackle this challenge?

A current topic around the globe right now is COVID-19 and its lasting impacts on adolescents, children, adults and families. Ever since we’ve been advised by the government to stay in our homes and commence most of our daily activities virtually, most of us have had lower social interactions which often resulted in the feeling of being alone, stressed and anxious. Many families, children and youth expressed their concern about how public health measures during the pandemic have affected their mental health and well-being through a study led by four research teams: The SickKids Child and Youth Psychiatry Outpatient Program, The Pond Network, TargetKids and Spit for Science. 

According to the study……….

• 70% of children from the ages 2-18 years of ages reported worse mental health during initial lockdowns 

• The study team found that some school-aged children experienced deterioration in a number of mental health domains, including depression (37.6 percent), anxiety (38.7 percent), irritability (40.5 percent) and attention span (40.8 percent) 

• Across six domains of mental health- depression, anxiety, irritability, attention span, hyperactivity, and oppressions/compulsions, 70.2 percent of school-aged children (six to 18 years old) and 66.1 percent of preschool-aged children (two to five years old) reported deterioration in at least one domain. A smaller proportion, 19.5 percent of school-aged children and 31.5 percent of preschool-aged children, reported improvement in at least one domain.

  Click here to read more on this study!

An updated version of the study (July 8th, 2021): 

• Over half of 758 children aged eight to 12 years old and 70 percent of 520 adolescents reported clinically significant depressive symptoms during the second wave (From Feb. to Mar. 2021).

• Before the pandemic, 58 percent of 1,261 participants surveyed participated in school sports and/or other extracurriculars, activities that are known to boost physical and mental health. During the pandemic, only 27 percent participated in sports and 16 percent in extracurriculars. Also, losing in-school services, such as healthy eating programs, counselling and learning supports, resulted in worse mental health outcomes for children and youth.

  Click here to read more on this study!

Through this study, we can all agree that during the pandemic, most people have at least experienced deterioration in at least one mental health domain - depression, anxiety, irritability, attention span, hyperactivity and oppressions/compulsions. Furthermore, we can see how missing out on in-school services such as healthy eating programs, counselling and learning supports has worsened the mental health of children and youth during the pandemic. Looking back at the results of this study, we can also see how over half of 758 children aged eight to 12 years old and 70 percent of 520 adolescents reported clinically significant depressive symptoms during the second wave of the pandemic. So ultimately, children and adolescents are being affected and as a result, their mental health is deteriorating due to the lack of not being able to access in-school services and in-person programs and some children and adolescents have similar symptoms to clinical depression. So, the important question to ask from this study is: How can we improve the mental well-being of children and youth and help manage their emotions in a pandemic?

Well, to answer this question we should first take a look at the definition and the benefits of SEL (Social-emotional learning) and how it correlates with the question above. 

Through the definition and benefits of SEL, we can see how SEL can have positive impacts on the mental well-being of children and youth, teaching them resiliency, responsibility, positive decision-making and how to manage their emotions. This is why Beat the Streets Toronto integrates SEL into its programs to provide children and youth with lifelong skills that will help set them up for future success and improve their emotional and mental well-being.

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And there you have it, folks!

To read more on what SEL is & why it’s important click here!

To see how Beat the streets Toronto integrates SEL into its programs click here!

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