Cambridge Study: Lockdown ‘Substantially’ Deteriorated Children’s Mental Health
Free Thought Project
(FEE) A new study by researchers at the University of Cambridge finds that the government-imposed lockdowns in response to the coronavirus pandemic cause significant harm to children’s mental health. The study, published this week in the Archives of Disease in Childhood, was the first of its kind to analyze data on younger children’s mental health before and during the first lockdown in the United Kingdom last spring.
Following 168 children between the ages of 7 ½ and 11 ½, the researchers conclude: “During the UK lockdown, children’s depression symptoms have increased substantially, relative to before lockdown. The scale of this effect has direct relevance for the continuation of different elements of lockdown policy, such as complete or partial school closures.”
They continue: “Specifically, we observed a statistically significant increase in ratings of depression, with a medium-to-large effect size. Our findings emphasise the need to incorporate the potential impact of lock-down on child mental health in planning the ongoing response to the global pandemic and the recovery from it.”
Lockdowns and Declining Youth Mental Health
Other studies linking declining mental health with lockdown policies have emerged for adolescents and young adults in recent months, but children were not typically represented.
"Alice McGraw, 2 yrs old, was walking with her parents in Lake Tahoe this summer when another family appeared, heading in their direction. The little girl stopped.
'Uh-oh,' she said and pointed: 'People.'”This isn't going to end well, folks. @mrichtel:https://t.co/eRSzZ7AUQv
— Alec MacGillis (@AlecMacGillis) December 10, 2020