[Inpatient care capacities in child and adolescent psychiatry-increase in emergency admissions during the COVID-19 pandemic?] / Stationäre Versorgungskapazitäten in der Kinder- und Jugendpsychiatrie ­ Zunahme der Akutaufnahmen während der COVID-19 Pandemie?

The COVID-19 pandemic and the accompanying containment measures have had a fundamental impact on the mental health of children and adolescents. In the present study, the emergency admissions of the first two Corona years (2020/21) at the Department for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Hall i. T./Innsbruck were retrospectively analysed and compared with the two years before the COVID-19 pandemic (2018/19). There was no change in the total number of emergency admissions in 2020 compared to 2019 before Corona, but in 2021 emergency admissions increased by 40.1%. The pre-Corona (2018/19) gender ratio of 65.4% girls to 34.6% boys did not change in 2020. In 2021, the proportion of girls increased to 74.4%. In the COVID-19 pandemic, acute suicidality increased (+48.3%) while aggression decreased (-51.0%). Acute intoxications increased in the first Corona year and decreased again in 2021. The present study results show that the mental health needs of children and adolescents increased significantly in the course of the COVID-19 pandemic and that this was also reflected in child and adolescent psychiatry. The increased demands must now be met with appropriate care and prevention measures as well as sufficient child and adolescent psychiatric bed capacities in order to mitigate the longer-term psychosocial effects of the COVID-19 pandemic as best as possible.

Children's Mental Health During the First Two Years of the COVID-19 Pandemic: Burden, Risk Factors and Posttraumatic Growth - A Mixed-Methods Parents' Perspective.

The COVID-19 pandemic and the accompanying containment measures such as physical distancing and school closures led to major changes in children's everyday lives. By means of a mixed-methods study, the "Tyrolean COVID-19 Children's Study" investigated the effects of the pandemic and factors influencing mental health and health-related quality of life of North Tyrolean (Austria) and South Tyrolean (Italy) children aged 3-13 years. Parents filled out N = 2,691 online questionnaires (951 preschool children: 3-6 years; 1,740 schoolchildren: 7-13 years) at four measurement time points (March 2020, December 2020, June 2021, December 2021). For both age groups, children's mental health outcomes (internalising problems, posttraumatic stress symptoms) were worse in December 2021 (t4) than children's mental health outcomes in March 2020 (t1). With regard to aggressive behaviour, this difference was only found among schoolchildren. Thematic analysis of an open ended, written question revealed the following positive changes in children during the Corona crisis: (1) the importance of intra- and extra-familial relationships, (2) new competences and experiences, (3) values and virtues, (4) use of time, and (5) family strength. Using multilevel modelling, threat experience, economic disruption, and perceived posttraumatic growth were shown to be the strongest predictors of all outcomes. Additionally, male gender was shown to be a predictor of aggressive behaviour. In terms of age, schoolchildren showed more internalising problems, aggressive behaviour, and threat experience than preschool children. With regard to time, parents in December 2021 reported more threat experience in older children and less perceived posttraumatic growth in both older and younger children, than parents at the beginning of the pandemic. Targeted support for vulnerable children may prevent longer-term development of psychopathologies and contribute to society's psychosocial resilience in the current COVID-19 pandemic. Moreover, sustainable promotion of children's posttraumatic growth can also contribute to children's mental health and could even offer a chance to turn the crisis into an opportunity.