The corona pandemic has hardly led to more mental problems among Dutch young people aged 16 to 20. The number of adolescents with severe anxiety and depression symptoms did not increase between 2012 and 2020. The number of people with mild complaints did increase considerably, but there are no indications that this increase was stronger in the corona year than in other years. No additional increase was found in sleeping problems, fatigue and the use of medicines for anxiety and depressive symptoms. Nine months after the start of the pandemic, adolescents’ mental health was comparable to that of before the corona outbreak.
This is apparent from a longitudinal study of 850 adolescents from Centerdata and Tilburg University, in the scientific journal Psychiatry Research. For this study, three groups of 16 to 20-year-olds were compared: from the end of 2012, from the end of 2016 and from the end of 2020.
The study shows that at the end of 2020, 32% of adolescents were struggling with mild anxiety and depression symptoms. This was 20% among adolescents at the end of 2016 and 24% among adolescents at the end of 2012. Although the percentage of adolescents with mild complaints has increased, the study does not show that this increase in the months after corona was stronger than the increase in previous years. Furthermore, it appears that although adolescents made more frequent use of mental health care in 2020, there was already an increase in the years before that. Overall, the results indicate that the coronavirus pandemic had a very limited negative impact on the mental health of 16 to 20-year-olds.
The research is part of a large and long-term study by Centerdata and Tilburg University into the effects of the corona pandemic on the mental health and social functioning of the Dutch population. The results are in line with long-term international research into the effects of the pandemic on adolescent mental health.