ABSTRACT
Introduction: Adolescents have to cope with several challenges and restrictions due to the COVID-19 pandemic, with many of those incongruent with the typical developmental tasks of adolescent age. Some adolescent might be particularly vulnerable in this situation. Objective(s): This study aimed: 1) to collect data on the mental health and quality of life of adolescents during/after the pandemic;2. to improve adolescents' mental health by providing an online prevention program that addresses their actual needs;3. to accelerate the development of culturally adapted prevention programs by involving an international team, and 4. to contribute to adequate preparation for any similar situation in the future. Method(s): Participants aged 11-18 years and their parents/caregivers were recruited online. Data has been collected regularly in a follow-up study by Inventar zur Erfassung der Lebensqualitat and Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire. The baseline data collection was in March 2020 at first restrictions of the COVID pandemic in Europe Results: In the baseline data 428 adolescents (29.7% boys;70.3% girls) were included. Adolescents reported significantly lower quality of life during the pandemic (F (1,557) = 29.11;p <0.001;R2 = 0.048). There was no significant difference in quality of life according to whether the adolescents live in a household with their siblings ( F (2, 356) = 0.785 p = 0.457;eta2 = 0.004), and whether the adolescents have symptoms of hyperactivity (s = 0.105;p = 0.295). Conclusion(s): Prevention based on the results of this study is expected to contribute to maintaining adolescents' mental health during and after the COVID pandemic.
ABSTRACT
Objectives: Morbidity and mortality rates show different patterns in European countries. The aim of the study was to map geographical inequalities in mortality caused by coronavirus (Sars-COV-2) infection in Europe in 2020. Methods: In our research the ’COVID deaths by week, 2020 and 2021’ indicator from ’OECD Health Statistics’ online database was analysed. Mortality data reported for weeks were aggregated, and calculated for 1,000,000 population using the Eurostat database on the population number for 2020. European countries were classified and compared according to their geographical location: Western-European, Eastern-European, Mediterranean and Nordic countries. After a preliminary normality test (Shapiro-Wilk test) single factor analysis of variance (ANOVA) was performed for comparison. Our analysis was carried out at a 95% probability level (p<0.05). SPSS 25.0 software was used for calculations. Results: In Western Europe, an overall 886, Eastern Europe 826, in Mediterranean region 1,083 and in Northern Europe 463 COVID deaths per 1,000,000 population were reported in 2020. In Europe, Belgium (1,725 deaths/1,000,000 population), Slovenia (1,379 deaths/1,000,000 population) and the United Kingdom (1,331 deaths/1,000,000 population) had the highest registered number of death cases, whereas the lowest numbers recorded were in Norway (84/1,000,000), Finland (102/1,000,000) and Estonia (189/1,000,000). Single factor analysis of variance (ANOVA) did not show significant differences among country groups (p=0.119). Conclusions: Our study revealed that overall, the lowest death rates resulting from the coronavirus infection were reported in Northern Europe in proportion to the population. There were no significant differences between the mortality rates of the geographical areas examined.
ABSTRACT
Purpose: Adolescents have to cope with several challenges and restrictions due to the COVID-19 pandemic, with many of those incongruent with the typical developmental tasks of adolescent age. Some adolescents might be particularly vulnerable in this situation, including those who are deprived of psychological, social or health care services and/or are exposed to abuse or neglect in their home environment. The aims of the current international multicentre follow-up study are to: 1. collect data on the mental health and quality of life of adolescents during and after the pandemic;2. improve their mental health by providing an online prevention program that addresses their actual needs;3. accelerate the development of culturally adapted prevention programs by involving an international team, and 4. to contribute to adequate preparation for any potentially occurring, similar situation in the future. Methods: Participants aged 11-18 years and their parents/caregivers from different parts of Europe and non-European countries are recruited online. Data are collected regularly in a follow-up study by means of structured self-administered online questionnaires on adolescents’ mental health, quality of life and current attitudes and needs. The baseline data collection was in March 2020 at first restrictions of the COVID pandemic in Europe. It is followed up several times (at the beginning weekly, later monthly, bi-monthly, three-monthly) to study changes in mental health, quality of life and attitudes of children and adolescents during the coronavirus disease pandemic. Data were collected by means of structured questionnaires (see below). The time frame of the study is set to one year from study start, March 2021. The last data collection was done in December 2020. The prevention program is developed and provided based on continuously analysed incoming data. Conclusions: Prevention based on the results of the study is expected to contribute to maintaining adolescents’mental health, improve their quality of life, increase their and their environment’s cooperation with the necessary restrictions during the pandemic, and to make reintegration easier once the restrictions are over. Furthermore, the study has the potential to inform on the wellbeing of children and adolescents in extreme situations in general, thus contribute to future preventive measures and policymaking. Implications and Contribution: The proposed international online follow-up study is expected to provide scientific evidence for 1. possible changes in the mental health and quality of life of adolescents during and after a pandemic situation, 2. the effectiveness of a culturally adapted prevention program developed to address challenges associated with these changes.
ABSTRACT
We construct and study a test to detect possible change points in the regression parameters of a linear model when the model errors and covariates may exhibit heteroscedasticity. Being based on a new trimming scheme for the CUSUM process introduced in Horváth et al. (2020), this test is particularly well suited to detect changes that might occur near the endpoints of the sample. A complete asymptotic theory for the test is developed under the null hypothesis of no change in the regression parameter, and consistency of the test is also established in the presence of a parameter change. Monte Carlo simulations show that our test is comparable to existing methods when the errors are homoscedastic. In contrast, existing methods developed for homoscedastic data are demonstrated to be ill-sized and poorly performing in the presence of heteroscedasticity, while the proposed test continues to perform well in heteroscedastic environments. These results are further demonstrated in a study of the linear connection between the price of crude oil and the U.S. dollar, and in detecting changes points in asset pricing models surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic. © 2020 Board of the Foundation of the Scandinavian Journal of Statistics