At the University of Cambridge, a recently published study unveiled the extent of the devastation the COVID-19 pandemic has caused among British children.
According to the findings, released in the journal Archives of Disease in Childhood, the first lockdown restrictions implemented by health officials led to an increase in depression in children.
The results were achieved by examining the health data of close to 170 children before and during the lockdown restrictions in the United Kingdom.
“Our study is one of the first to follow the same children over time during lockdown and suggests that symptoms of depression among children got much worse during this period,” a news release of the results read.
“This effect was independent of children’s age, gender and family socio-economic status.”
Researchers at Cambridge determined that the lockdown measures had and will continue to have drastic impacts on the mental health of children.
“Even before lockdown resources for Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services were stretched thin – and that was against a backdrop of worsening mental health among children. Our findings suggest that lockdown measures will likely exacerbate this. The education sector will bear the initial brunt of this,” researchers stated in the news release.
