Post-Traumatic Stress in Children and Adolescents during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Meta-Analysis and Intervention Approaches to Ensure Mental Health and Well-Being

Background: Since the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020, many measures have been taken to prevent the spread of the virus. Consequently, many minors have been confined to their homes and have had to subsequently adapt to countless protocol changes. These factors appear to have contributed to post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in many children. Materials and Methods: The authors searched Medline through PubMed and other databases for studies published from 1 December 2019 to 31 December 2021 on the prevalence of PTSD in schoolchildren. The authors used a random-effects model to calculate the pooled prevalence of PTSD. Results: A total of six studies were included in this review. Our results show a pooled prevalence of PTSD of 14% in children and adolescents. Subgroup analyses identify a significantly higher prevalence of PTSD for studies conducted in China and a higher prevalence in boys. The prevalence of PTSD appeared independent of child age or the methodological rigor of the study. Conclusions: Our results suggest that a large number of children may be suffering from PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder). Public health measures are thus needed to improve children's mental health during and after the pandemic, so that the suffering is mitigated to prevent long-lasting effects.

Prevalence of depression among medical students during the COVID-19 pandemic. A systematic review and meta-analysis

Background: Medical students frequently have depressive symptoms. Thus, the psychological impact of COVID-19 on them should be high. Aim: To conduct a systematic review and meta-analysis on the prevalence of depression in medical students during the COVID-19 pandemic. Material and Methods: MEDLINE via PubMed, Embase and Web of Science were searched for studies reporting the prevalence of depression in medical students, published from December 1, 2019 to December 27, 2020. Results: Eleven studies were included, most of them from Asia. The estimated overall prevalence of depression in medical students was 31% (95% CI: 23%-40%), with lower prevalence rates reported in studies from Asia in general, and China in particular. Conclusions: Our findings indicate that the proportion of medical students with depression during the pandemic was high, and comparable with that reported in other university students.

Emotional state of school and university teachers in northern Spain in the face of COVID-19

Background: Since the start of non face-to-face learning classes in March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, teachers have been accumulating stress. Since then, the teaching staff have had to adapt to the new telematic classes, and in September 2020 they have had to return to face-to-face classes, taking different hygiene measures to prevent contagion. The changes in teaching methods and the lack of guidelines for the new teaching challenges have created a lot of uncertainty in this sector. The aim of the present study was to measure the levels of stress, anxiety and depression of teaching staff in the face of the reopening of schools and universities after 6 months of absence from face-to-face classes. Methods: A total of 1,633 teachers from the Department of Education of the Basque Autonomous Community (BAC) took part, all of them professionals working in different educational centres, from early childhood education to university studies. The questionnaire, DASS-21, was applied to measure the symptomatology presented by the teaching staff in relation to the reopening of the centres. Results: The results show that 32.2% of the participants had symptoms of depression, 49.4% had symptoms of anxiety and 50.6% had symptoms of stress. Conclusions: The results show that teachers have symptoms of stress, anxiety and depression. Therefore, it is important to take care of the mental health of teachers in order to take care of the mental health of students and the quality of teaching.

[Emotional state of school and university teachers in northern Spain in the face of COVID-19.]

OBJECTIVE: Since the start of non face-to-face learning classes in March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, teachers have been accumulating stress. Since then, the teaching staff have had to adapt to the new telematic classes, and in September 2020 they have had to return to face-to-face classes, taking different hygiene measures to prevent contagion. The changes in teaching methods and the lack of guidelines for the new teaching challenges have created a lot of uncertainty in this sector. The aim of the present study was to measure the levels of stress, anxiety and depression of teaching staff in the face of the reopening of schools and universities after 6 months of absence from face-to-face classes. METHODS: A total of 1,633 teachers from the Department of Education of the Basque Autonomous Community (BAC) took part, all of them professionals working in different educational centres, from early childhood education to university studies. The questionnaire, DASS-21, was applied to measure the symptomatology presented by the teaching staff in relation to the reopening of the centres. RESULTS: The results show that 32.2% of the participants had symptoms of depression, 49.4% had symptoms of anxiety and 50.6% had symptoms of stress. CONCLUSIONS: The results show that teachers have symptoms of stress, anxiety and depression. Therefore, it is important to take care of the mental health of teachers in order to take care of the mental health of students and the quality of teaching.